How study abroad led us to Italy together

Hi! My name is Brendan, I'm 22 years old, and I'm from Long Island, New York. My love for Italy began in 2023 when I spent a semester abroad in Florence, from late August to mid-December. When I first arrived, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know anyone, and my roommates came from all over the world and didn’t speak any English. It was a challenge at first, but it really pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me learn to meet new people, which ended up being a great experience!

During my time abroad, I traveled all over Europe, places like Germany, Austria, France, England, Ireland, and Spain. I was best friends with a girl named Giselle, who I went to college with. She was studying in Rome, which wasn’t too far from Florence. We’d meet up as often as we could, she’d come to Florence, and I’d go to Rome. After a few meet-ups and spending time together away from the usual college environment, where everyone is in your business, we started dating.

When we returned to college at Loyola University Maryland, we made a pact to one day move back to Italy and live there for an extended period. When we told people, they’d say, “That would be cool,” but we were serious about it. So, in the spring before we graduated, we started planning. We both decided to take a gap year and move to Rome. Giselle, a speech pathologist, applied to a school in Rome to help kids with speech therapy. Her dad is from Ireland, so she has dual citizenship. As for me, I wanted to learn more Italian and immerse myself in the culture, so I started looking into language schools. I came across Italianforawhile and it seemed too good to be true. So, on October 6th, I’ll be starting classes, and I’m beyond excited to meet new people, learn Italian, and explore so many new things!

In terms of how I feel about taking this big step in life, I’m very excited and ready for the adventure. Recently, many of my friends have landed great jobs in New York City, which initially made me feel like I was falling behind. But I realized that I’m still young, I just turned 22 in August, and life’s too short. This is the perfect time for me to travel and do something out of the ordinary. When I tell people what I’m doing, they’re all very supportive and encouraging. I know that, when I’m older and working every day, I’ll never regret spending 10 months living and learning in Italy. Life is a gift, and I don’t want to rush it.

It’s also a big step for Giselle and me, living together for that long in a completely different country. Thankfully, our parents are both very supportive. We’re not planning on treating it like a typical study abroad experience. We both want to live in Italy like locals, learning the language and adjusting to everyday life rather than just traveling and seeing sights. Giselle will be working, and I’ll be attending school around the same time, so we’ll be commuting together in the mornings.

I’m still figuring out what I want to do professionally after my time here, but I’ve always thought about becoming a teacher. What would be really cool is teaching a few different subjects, including Italian, to kids back home in New York. This is also a big reason why I want to learn Italian. I’d love to not only learn the language and culture but also be able to teach it to others, whether that’s through an Italian class or as part of a broader curriculum. It just feels like a great way to connect my interests with my future career. I also can’t wait to meet new people in my classes and become friends with them, going out for dinners, exploring, and having fun. What I hope to achieve most by the end of the year is to speak Italian fluently enough to have conversations. I’m not sure if I’ll be completely fluent, but I want to be confident enough to communicate in Italian. Ultimately, I just want to leave knowing that this was the best year of my life. I have really high hopes for the upcoming months, and I couldn’t have done it without Italianforawhile. I’m so excited for what’s ahead!