Every day that I have experienced thus far while participating in the Joseph S. Bruno program has been full of life-changing, eye-opening experiences that have positively affected my life in both personal and professional aspects. For myself, the highlight of this past week was the cooking class I was given the opportunity to participate in located in Umbria, Italy. I was raised by an Italian father so I have always had a strong passion and love for food, especially Italian food. The class was taught by two professional chefs who thoroughly explained and taught us the proper techniques on how to cook ravioli filled with sheep’s milk ricotta and basil cream sauce and pappardelle with wild boar. I was definitely not prepared for the amount of time and effort it took to create these dishes but after hours of slaving in the kitchen, the food only tasted that much better. Once the feast was finally ready after what seemed like days, we were able to enjoy all of our hard work on a beautifully set table outside with a view of the countryside. The view looked like it came from a postcard. This was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I, and I am sure the rest of the class, will never forget.
Having the opportunity to experience different things such as this cooking class has already taught me a great deal about myself and what I truly want to do with my future. I plan to become a journalist, so participating in all of these unique cultural experiences is giving me the international knowledge I need to write articles about different parts of the world. I will be able to more easily explain to my readers who are not able to venture around the world how people from different cultures live their daily lives. I would not change anything about this program and already know this will be the best few months of my life.
Erica Froonjian

The final product of all our hard work: ravioli filled with sheep’s milk ricotta & basil cream sauce, pappardelle with wild boar in sagrantino & house salad with shallot vinaigrette