When I chose to study abroad, I had two main desires. The first one was to push myself out of my comfort zone. Inspired by the amount of traveling my friends did, I decided I needed to take the same leap into adulthood and sign up for JSB. My second desire was to use this experience as an escape. I wanted freedom and separation from the responsibilities I felt weighed me down at home. I longed for a relaxing and enlightening retreat from my problems.

However, only one of my two desires ended up coming true: Being out of my comfort zone. Without my knowledge, my problems slithered into my suitcase and hopped on my flight to paradise the moment I checked my bags in Atlanta. Studying abroad in a foreign place and new culture is obviously uncomfortable and this program made deep realizations hit me hard.

What the JSB program and my experience studying in Italy has taught me is that just like learning a language or culture, growth takes time, consistency, and willingness. The reason my pesky problems followed me halfway across the globe is because they are me. They are my habits, my lifestyle, my thought patterns, my daily motivations. At first it was frustrating to recognize that my problems stemmed from my habits, but each time I journaled and reflected for class, I found myself building a map, or a guide, to help me overcome these pesky problems.

For example, I have always struggled with getting my creative ideas out in a productive manner. My brain gets jumbled, and I find myself lost in the mess. Throughout my travels, classes, and relationships this summer, I have been able to gain inspiration left and right and have slowly learned how to develop a system for collecting this information along the way.

For anyone questioning what they should do next in their young adult life and college career, I urge you to sign up for JSB or another study abroad program. You will not only learn about the rich culture and history of Europe, but also deep revelations about yourself and where you are headed.

“Just keep swimming”

This photo was taken in Sicily at a beautiful vineyard hotel week five of the program. My classmates and I flopped around in the pool after a long day of travel. Although we were all feeling pretty homesick, we laughed more than we ever have and I felt truly connected to my classmates.

-Eva Farrish

I have grown up in a family that inspires me to travel. One of my grandparents’ favorite places to travel and most frequented countries was Italy. I heard them talk about Rome, Cinque Terra, and Tuscany, but there was one town my grandpa always mentioned. Avigliano, a small town located outside of Potenza. My grandpa’s family is from Avigliano, therefore he talked about it all the time, I saw pictures, and my mom even visited the town when she was in high school. I knew that when I signed up for the Joseph S. Bruno program, I was going to try and get there as a surprise on one of our weekends off.

Avigliano is a small town, so the journey there was going to be extensive. Luckily, one of the first things that the Joseph S. Bruno program teaches us is how to travel on trains. After some research, I found that the easiest way to get there was to fly to Bari, then train to Foggia, and then train to Avigliano Lucania. From Avigliano Lucania, I read that my friend and I could taxi to the city of Avigliano. Emma Childs and I were confident in our travel skills, so we headed on our way.

Emma Childs and I had a minor discrepancy when we arrived at Bari Central Station. We arrived early and found the train platform, but then it was ten minutes until our train was supposed to depart, and it wasn’t there. Bari is a touristy area, so I was able to communicate with a worker using both Italian and English to figure out our train just switched platforms and the display screens didn’t update. Then, we arrived at Foggia Station and only had ten minutes to find our next train. Emma and I were confident until we saw the platform said 4C and we didn’t see any platforms that included letters. Again, we had to use our communication skills and flag down a worker to help. We made our train departing to Avigliano Lucania with three minutes to spare.

Finally, we arrived in Avigliano Lucania, and we were going to be able to taxi into the city of Avigliano, or so we thought. Emma and I were in shock when we stepped off the train into a train station that was no bigger than the Chigi Palace living room. We had finally made it into a true small town where the one worker spoke no English. My communication skills have never been more needed than in that moment, and I am so glad to have had to use them.

Emma and I quickly learned that there were no taxis in this city, but I was not leaving without completing my life goal and grandpa’s surprise. I used all the Italian I knew and my maps to talk to the worker and show her where we needed to go. The language barrier was difficult but with determination we were able to figure it out and she told us there was a whole other train we had to take from there into the small town of Avigliano. It is so small that the train station doesn’t show on maps or on the departing trains schedule. It is simply a train that only locals know about and take.

Emma and I managed to make it to Avigliano and I have never been happier. I had completed a life goal of mine and managed to surprise my grandpa. He never knew I was going, so I just sent him a picture of myself in front of the statue I had seen in so many of his pictures before and waited for the response. His response was one of pure joy and excitement, as he said ““This is unbelievable! Your roots! How did you get there?”” I couldn’t have been more excited to tell him about the long journey, as Emma and I spent a total of ten hours traveling that day to get to Avigliano and back to Bari.

My communication skills improved significantly that day trying to navigate all the travel bumps Emma and I came across. They also improved because of all the amazing workers and community members I got to meet such as the worker at Avigliano Lucania, Avigliano Citta, and the convenient store worker in Avigliano who was beyond excited I asked for a postcard. As I head into the Interior Design field, communication skills are a must, and this weekend trip prepared me for being able to talk to anyone, no matter the barrier.

Avigliano was a weekend trip to remember, and I am forever grateful that the Joseph S. Bruno program made it possible for me.

The photo I sent my grandpa to see if he could guess where I was!

Paris Ann Maness

I have always loved making new friends and connecting with other people. Ever since I was a little kid, I have loved to talk to and learn from the people around me. As an extrovert, I was extremely excited to meet new people this summer. I have made new friends in two big ways that have been very different from how I have normally met people.

The first is with the girls in my program. We are all very different, and it’s unlikely that we would all be friends if not for this program. The experiences we’ve shared this summer have created a bond and understanding between us that will last far beyond these three months. I am so grateful for the kindness, inclusiveness, and encouragement that each girl has shown me. I have found an amazing community among the girls. For that, I am incredibly thankful. 

The second is with the people that I have met throughout Italy. Many people that I interact with on a daily basis do not speak English. Although this language barrier has been frustrating, it has caused me to rely heavily on hand gestures and facial expressions. It has been a valuable experience to connect with people while relying on different means of communication other than speaking. Everyone has been welcoming and gracious and they have been excited to interact with me and the other girls. These friendships have shown me how similar people are, despite coming from different cultures.

I am so grateful for all of the new friends I have met this summer. They have all taught me how to love those around me better, and how to meet people with understanding. I know that I will carry these lessons with me throughout the rest of my life. Thank you to all 21 of my new friends from the JSB program and thank you to the people of Ariccia. You have made me better!

Hailey Benting

This is a picture of me with Paolo and his wife Barbara! They own a coffee shop in Ariccia and have been so kind to us all summer. They have become dear friends of ours!

Do you ever stop in a moment and realize, this is one of my peak moments in life? Something that we do throughout this program is talk about our peaks and pits every week. In simpler terms, this is just the best part of the week and the worst. Each week, I seek out my peaks. Thinking about the best parts of the summer allows me to realize how lucky I am to be on a trip with the people that I ended up with. I have had more peaks in the short months that I have been here, than I could ever imagine! From birthday dinners in Albano, cliff jumping in Scopello, boating in Croatia, to celebrating Fourth of July in Rome, this summer is full of memories that I will remember for the rest of my life.

The concept of recognizing peaks this summer has become a habit of mine. It has allowed me to focus on the present and give my full attention to the world around me. The past few months have gone by so unexpectedly fast and there have been moments that feel very rushed and hectic about traveling so much. This leads me to let things pass me by without even noticing. There’s never a guarantee that I could come back to any of these beautiful places again, so it’s become important for me to live in each and every moment and take it in, knowing I might not ever be back.

This is a summer that I never expected. I never expected to be away from home for so long with people that I had just met. But some of the unexpected and unimaginable decisions in life are the ones that are the greatest.

Caroline Lambert

Found in the center of many magnificent duomos and cathedrals in Italy are stories of Jesus and his works on earth. His birth, resurrection and life are displayed on frescos and ceilings in painted color and carvings of gold. As a practicing Christian in the United States, religion is important to me and is a core value of my family. I grew up studying Bible stories in church and fell in love with their descriptions about God and his closeness to man. Naturally upon arriving to Italy, I quickly became fascinated with the ancient expressions of Byzantine, Gothic, and Baroque designs depicting God the Father, Jesus, angels, and heaven. When standing beneath these artworks from centuries ago, it’s easy to sit and reflect over the time and effort it must have taken to create such grand and intricate masterpieces.

During one of our program field trips to Sicily, we entered the beautiful Monreale Monastery with painted frescos covering its walls- each painting illustrating a Bible story. However, these stories were depicted without words, only with pictures. Originally as an ancient method of communication to the uneducated, these frescos served as the source of Biblical knowledge and education to the poor and illiterate during the 12^th century. When gazing up at the golden frescos of the monastery, I could have spent hours deciphering the pictures of Bible stories that I have heard and loved since childhood. This is one of many moments in Italy that broadened my perspective of Christianity across cultures, enriched my understanding of my beliefs, and caused scriptural-based stories to come to life. 

“Pictures are worth a thousand words”- Fred R. Barnard.

~ Emma Childs

Here is a picture of the Monreale Monastery we visited on our field trip to Sicily.

Two words that I thought I knew and understood until I came here. After coming to Italy, I have a new perspective on what these words truly mean. I feel like oftentimes, we take things for granted without even realizing that they are a privilege to have.

Over the past few weeks, we have learned about the values that we hold close to us as individuals. Some of the values that I wrote down were religion, family, friends, quality time, and learning/knowledge. One that I didn’t write down but learned about was time.

This past week I had a conversation via text with one of my friends who took a week-long trip to Peru for missions. They would text me about every other day, and today, it just hit how short their time was down there. It was then that I realized the majority of trips in my life usually are about a week long. 

Studying abroad has definitely opened my eyes to a new world and culture around me. Every day I am learning new things. I think that up until now, I took for granted the amount of time that I get to spend here going to school. I have always known that not everyone gets to study abroad, much less travel abroad. But yet, I still never had just as much of an appreciation for it as I do now.

It’s not every day that you just get to decide, “Oh, I want to travel to another country on the weekends,” or “Let’s go to Rome after class.”

• Erica Fogle

This is a picture of Sarabeth Elkins, Abby Kramer, Emma Childs, Caroline Ward, Hailey Benting, Sydney Jaffe, Emma Rutledge, Paris Maness, and me on our second night in Ariccia at the beginning of our study abroad program.

I have always taken pride in my profound passion for humanity and the world that surrounds me. There has always been an inherent desire within me to connect deeply with others and embrace all the experiences that this world has to offer. As I grew up, I eagerly awaited the day when I could venture out on my own and fully immerse myself in these experiences.

That day finally arrived, and I can honestly say that it exceeded my wildest expectations. The newfound independence and resilience I have discovered have shaped my understanding of others in large ways.

If my younger self were to learn that I have been living in Italy for over eight weeks, she would be left speechless. Although time has flown by, it is often difficult to fully grasp the reality of it all. Walking the streets of Rome and witnessing the majestic Colosseum, still feels like a jolt of astonishment with each encounter. 

This entire experience has been equivalent to a deep awakening, a vivid realization that this is the life I am living. I am truly blessed to have been given the chance to reside in a beautiful country alongside twenty-one remarkable individuals. Every day, I have the privilege of learning from an extraordinary community and exploring bucket-list destinations during weekends. It’s no wonder that I sometimes struggle to fully comprehend the reality of it all.

Whenever I reflect on my life before this transformative experience, I struggle to recollect what it was like. Mentally, physically, emotionally, and relationally, I have undergone impactful changes. I now possess a newfound trust in my own abilities to navigate solitude and overcome challenges. I have developed a resilience I never thought possible, confronting and conquering situations that once seemed insurmountable. Furthermore, my understanding of people has deepened, revealing that I never truly understood others as well as I once believed. At my core, I have discovered my true self and the values that hold immense importance to me.

This journey has also taught me about the inherent goodness within people, allowing me to perceive them in a way that illuminates the beauty of their hearts. Furthermore, I have gained a sincere understanding of the world itself—its vast beauty, rich history, and the power it holds. I now realize that life is too short to experience everything this world has to offer, but it has inspired me to cherish and embrace the wonders that surround me. My eyes have been opened to the endless opportunities for learning and growth that lie ahead of me in this breathtaking world. 

This journey is merely the beginning of my story.

Abi Wampler

Before coming to Italy, I would not consider myself much of a chef. Cooking for others has always made me apprehensive because I would rather perfect a recipe before serving it to others. This has caused me to stick to comfortable and easy meals. The classic scrambled eggs or buttered noodles are always my go-tos. However, there is such an availability of fresh goods in Italy that it feels like a shame not to use them. For example, Ariccia hosts a market every Monday with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Some of my peers and I will go together before class to buy our produce for the week. This has helped me make sure that I am eating ample fruits and vegetables amidst a mostly pizza and pasta diet. Then, at the supermarket, there is a fresh bread station with the most amazing focaccia and a deli with any meat I could need. 

I have also become more comfortable in the kitchen because of our program cooking classes. Cinzia, our program facilitator, is a fantastic chef and has guided us as we learn to cook Italian dishes. Each person has delegated a role during the cooking process, and Cinzia helps us in its execution. I never thought I was capable of creating such delicious and flavorful meals. One of my favorite things that we have made is a Caprese cake, which is similar to an almond brownie. It is a native Italian dessert that contains only eggs, chocolate, and almonds. It was so easy to make and tastes amazing. The one we made was even gluten and dairy free! Of course, I am still learning, but now I can step into the kitchen confidently, knowing that I have the tools necessary to create meals on my own. Learning to cook has definitely been a learning experience and has shown me how capable I am of a task even if it seems daunting. 

Ellis Thompson