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In the Spring of my junior year, I spent four months studying abroad in Florence, Italy.  While living in Italy, I was able to travel to neighboring countries, and have once in a lifetime experiences, such as skiing the Swiss Alps and being in Dublin, Ireland for St. Patrick's Day.  I also visited Germany, Spain, Netherlands, and monumental areas of Italy. Life literally felt like a dream.  Once you wake up and realize you’re living it, it is absolutely unbelievable.

While in Italy I took a travel writing course.  To truly convey how I felt I included an excerpt from one of my entries written half way through my stay in Florence: “Nostalgia’s kicking in—the last 2 months of my stay in Firenze have just started. Excuse the lack of a more sophisticated vernacular but I just can’t believe it.  Florence is huge, beautiful, breathtaking, peaceful, amazing, and a number of other unoriginal words.                                           See my life. I sleep. Eat. Travel. Sleep. Get up. Start over.  Every day can be something new. Every day can help me grow.  It’s hard to complain.  Sure there’s the hour wait for luggage when the Italians mix up 4 flights of luggage or the sprint piece I endured trying to catch the last train from Milano to Firenze that only happened to be delayed 30 minutes, but like the company says, “Life is good.”  I can’t help but try to figure out how I can soak up more time in Firenze.  How can you really live in a moment when all your moments seem to be flying past you?  As my friend Ashley questioned, “Where’s my life going?  I know I’m living it but it’s just to fast!”  I presume that what’s left of my time here will be over before I know it so my game plan remains cliché: Carpe diem.  Laugh till it hurts.  Spend as much time out of the apartment as possible.  Write. Write. Write.  Spend time with the people I’ve met.  Realize that every day leads me one day closer to the end.  Carpe diem.”

Without Cultural Experiences Abroad (CEA), my study abroad program, I know my experience would have been entirely different.  They were incredibly efficient and friendly, and made sure all their students were treated to a top quality experience.  Countless times I encountered students from other programs and always received the same response when comparing our program expenses to our experiences.  It was continually, "I wish I had gone with CEA."  I highly recommend the CEA program, and the study abroad experience.  I firmly believe that it was one of the best decisions of my life.  As a student, life at Auburn can become repetitive.  Studying abroad allows for unique opportunities and the chance to make friends all over the country.  If given the chance, I'd do it all over again.  Don't miss out!