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ITALY
Since 1994, Arcadia has
offered first year students the opportunity to travel to London
(and later Scotland and Spain) during spring break at a low
cost. For the first time, transfer students were offered a
similar opportunity -- this time to Italy. In addition, this
trip was part of a course for which students received two
credits. In what follows, Jose Marrero, a faculty member in the
Modern Languages Department, provides a description of this new
experience.
Italy Preview
Jose Marrero
Modern Languages Department
When I started organizing the
Preview to Italy, I was excited and anxious to take our new
incoming transfer students abroad for the first time. Many of
them (juniors and seniors) had heard of Arcadia’s previews to
London and Scotland for first year students so they were waiting
for their chance to go abroad and experience the world. The
difference between the Italy Preview and other previews is that
students get to learn about Italian culture, art and business
prior to our departure and earn two credits for their efforts.
On March 10th 2006,
a group of 66 transfer students and 6 faculty and staff members
departed from JFK for Rome. The following day, I received them
with open arms at the Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport.
We spent four days in Rome. We went to the Roman Forum, the
Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain during our first
day (Sunday March 12th) in the old city. Arcadia’s
president, Jerry Greiner, also arrived in Rome on the same day
and accompanied us during the tour of the city.
Students’ interest and
disposition to participate in all of the planned activities were
always very high. Allow me to give you an example of their
enthusiasm. Monday, March 13th was scheduled on the
itinerary as a day off for students to wander around the city
and explore. I announced my intention of visiting the Christian
Catacombs of San Calisto outside of the city. All faculty and
staff members and I gathered in the lobby of the hotel to start
our trip. To my surprise 36 students (more than half) decided
to accompany us in the adventure. It was a great day! We
visited the catacombs and students learned how to ride the
subway and buses around and outside of the city. I was very
impressed to see students who have no knowledge of Italian
finding their way and communicating with locals who knew some
English. During our last day in Rome, the entire group went to
the Vatican Museums to take part in an organized tour of the
galleries. President Greiner also gave us a quick lecture on
the politics and life of the Vatican. After visiting Rome, we
went to Florence, Siena and Perugia where students experienced
regional differences in Italy and saw other parts of the country
that are culturally diverse.
Some of our students wrote to
me expressing their excitement about the trip:
“I absolutely loved our Italy
Preview trip! There were so many wonderful moments that I will
cherish forever!” Victoria Panna
“The highlight of my trip was
going to the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums. I was in awe
about all the art work that I saw, whether it was frescoes,
tapestries or sculptures.” Ashley Whitmill
“Each time I heard the Italian
language, it made me realize that they live with it. Of course,
Italian people use Italian but when I actually experienced it,
it was completely different. For me, it was a subject of study
but it is a part of their daily life and it is used to
communicate with their family, watch TV, read books and for
everything. I wanted to learn and understand Italy and Italian
even more after I was there.” Ayami Mori (student minoring in
Italian)
It was a wonderful, rewarding
experience for all of us. Everyone – student, faculty and staff
member, and I – will always cherish and appreciate the great
moments we lived together.
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