January 9, 2009
Ciao! My name is Emily Visnovsky and I am a junior Art History major (Anthropology minor) that came to Wagner from Ponte Vedra, Florida. I am so excited to be spending my Spring semester in Rome, Italy! Being an Art History major, Italy is one of the greatest places in the world to study art. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to have the opportunity to study outside of the United States. I cannot wait to grasp this learning experience and grow as an individual.
One fear that is always in the back of my mind when I travel to a foreign country is not being sufficient in the language. I wish that I was more familiar with Italian and comfortable speaking to others in the language. I am also fearful that I will not have enough money to do all of the things that I know I will want to do. Being a college student is already financially straining but having to convert to the euro and being faced with the endless amount of things that I want to do in Europe is going to make it even harder.
I have so many things that I am looking forward to while living in Rome. I really, really hope that I can leave being able to have conversations in Italian. I want to fully immerse myself into the Italian culture! I want to travel as much as possible but get to a point that when I return to Rome I feel like I am returning to home and my newly developed comfort zone. Also I love coffee and wine so I am looking forward to having some of the best.
I am going to miss a lot about New York City. I consider it home and there is such a level of comfort when you know and love a city so much. I cannot wait to get to know the city of Rome but I know I will miss the small things about New York like my favorite restaurants, museums, and places to go to just be in my head.
I am looking forward to coming back to the states a more independent person and thinker. Studying art first hand in Rome (and throughout Europe) is going to give me such a greater depth of knowledge in my major that I could never learn in a classroom. I know that I am going to grow as a person and have the time of my life. I cannot wait to see where the semester takes me.