My name is Samantha O’Donnell, I am 18 years old from a small suburb in northern New Jersey. For my entire life, I had truly only experienced my local environment. When I was offered the opportunity to study in Florence, I was terrified and my first reaction was to decline and attend a university much closer to my comfort zone. But, I pushed myself through my fear and the excitement I felt when I boarded the plane confirmed I had made the right decision; I was embarking on a global education.

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"Local restaurants flashed large pictures of the stereotypical Italian dishes of pasta and pizza, trying to attract tourists. In a way, I felt as if Florence was created solely for the foreigner to enjoy."

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I quickly learned that immersing myself in a new culture would take a lot more work than I thought. If I spent the majority of my days on campus, eating dinner in the cafeteria and speaking in English with other American students, I would feel like I was back home. But even when my peers and I ventured into town, we were surrounded by American accents. Local restaurants flashed large pictures of the stereotypical Italian dishes of pasta and pizza, trying to attract tourists. In a way, I felt as if Florence was created solely for the foreigner to enjoy. While the rich history of Florence is felt running through the streets, visitors from almost every country try to manifest their own genuine Italian experience with the help of tour books.  It wasn’t until my second week of school when I participated on a school trip to Palermo, Sicily that I truly felt as though I had finally engaged with a new culture.

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"That’s when I realized that truly being connected with a different way of life entailed experiencing the unexpected, not just staying in a culture bubble."

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We were concluding our trip with a food tasting tour in the market and I was expecting the classic Italian meal. However, the guide placed a local delicacy on my plate. The lung and spleen sandwich sitting in front of me wasn’t a traditional dish advertised throughout Italy, but here in Sicily, it was authentically part of the culture. That’s when I realized that truly being connected with a different way of life entailed experiencing the unexpected, not just staying in a culture bubble.

 

Stereotypes often overcome our desire for knowledge and understanding. Being in Italy has given me the opportunity to learn and explore its various cities, providing me with a much fuller idea of different cultures than I would have ever experienced had I stayed in New Jersey. My global involvement has given me the opportunity to experience a piece of the local community, and therefore be a part of it. I have found through these adventures that my place in the world is everywhere.