Finding Peace in Sansepolcro

Here is the essay that I wrote in the spring for an essay contest at Meredith College. I placed second and shared the essay with classmates and faculty at Meredith's Celebrating Student Achievement Day.

In the beautiful and quaint Tuscan city of Sansepolcro, Italy it took me only sixteen weeks to find peace. This is a state of mind which I had not reached in quite some time. It must be hard for people to understand why this experience felt fulfilling if they have not studied or lived abroad. However, if the rest of my classmates in Italy were hearing this they would be nodding their heads. In the fall semester of my sophomore year in college I was able to learn more academically and personally than I ever thought possible in such a place or time. Enhancing these learning skills has made me more knowledgeable of the world as a whole and more independent as a young woman.
For someone who learns visually I picked the right study abroad program. I was lucky enough to learn about Italian Renaissance art exactly where it began. In our literature class we discussed Carlo Levi and Iris Origo’s lives during World War II and were then lucky enough to travel to their homes. We were able to take all of our classes in the Palazzo Alberti, a stunning 16th century palazzo which also served as our home away from home. This experience in Italy allowed me to focus more on what I was learning in the classroom because I did not have all of the extra meetings and practices I normally have when I am on campus. I had more time to do my work, instead of attending countless dance practices and club meetings. I thought I would miss these things most, but ended up being refreshed to get a break from them. My semester in Italy challenged me academically, and I was pushed to learn about new subjects I may not have chosen to study had I stayed at Meredith. I can assure anyone that analyzing beautiful Italian art is done better when you are standing before it in awe.
I was not only more excited to learn about the topics of my classes, but more capable of learning about them. I wrote a paper about the north and south divide for Sara Andreini’s Italy Today class. This paper talked about the poverty the south had faced, and how people in the north have continued to separate themselves from those in the south. The sources for my papers did not come from readings alone, but also from images I had seen in my travels. I could explain how I was a witness to the poverty in the south, which made what I was writing about more real to me. After reading Carlo Levi’s book Christ Stopped at Eboili, I was given the chance to see the city he had written so much about. It really put the books context into perspective and if I stopped to imagine what he wrote, I could see the children and the poverty of the small town Levi wrote of surrounding me. These experiences not only gave me an appreciation for the opportunity I was being given in Italy, but also the opportunity I was given to continue learning with such imagination back at Meredith College.
Amanda Oliver, an alumna of Meredith College, spoke this year at the sophomore class Charming Evening event. She told us that if she could give each student sitting in front of her one piece of advice, it would be to study abroad. As a study abroad alumna, I believe she gave them some very wise advice. Amanda never studied abroad while she was at Meredith, but she did hope that as our class advisor she could persuade all of us to. I wasn’t expecting to learn all of the things I learned about myself while I was away from the states, but as my time in Italy came to a close myself and the others around me saw that I was more confident and independent. I feel like a stronger person who can take on so much more after being away from home for so long. While I was in Italy I realized that out of all the people that loved me, I needed to love me most at the end of each day. I needed to get the confidence to achieve things, which I lost near the end of high school and beginning of college. Study abroad helped me find this confidence. I began to understand that in my new experiences in this foreign country I was only going to move forward with my life if I put the mistakes I made in my past behind me. I am so happy that I jumped at my opportunity to study abroad early, while it was right in front of me. Italy was not always in my plans to study abroad; South Africa was. Italy gave me the passion I need to pursue further study abroad opportunities. The experiences I had in Italy and the moments I found happiness began to make me realize I was becoming the strong, independent woman I knew I could be. I realized how easy it was to find “simple joy” in a beautiful afternoon bike ride, or in the smell of a good plate of pasta.
I knew how I wanted things to work out when I returned from Italy, but they have not work out the way I imagined at all. I remember writing about the gift of time and how I learned we must savor the important moments, but since being back at Meredith all I want is more time. I want more time in the day to get my work done, and I wish I had spent more of the time I had in Italy studying Italian. Although my schedule doesn’t include the free time I wish it had, I do remember how important it is to stay true to what I believe and keep the strength I gained while in Italy. I have been proof that one can learn from experience, and my semester in Italy was just another example of how I did that.
People still approach me and ask “How was Italy? Tell me all about it.” I used to hesitate and wonder how much they really wanted to know until I could sum it up in one word: perfect. Nothing will ever replace the time I had in Italy. From the first night in the Palazzo Alberti, as an Italian couple sang a beautiful Italian opera song to all of us, I knew I was in the right place.

...NOW onto the last year, 2010.
Working on reflecting in the little peace I have found this semester.