Word of the Post: Ansiso - (Anxious in Italian)
I drove to Italy. Well, that’s a white lie. To drive to Italy I would have to buy a car that can hover and I would have to hope that there were gas stations in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean—either that or I would have to become a very good swimmer, and I' m no Michael Phelps. So in theory, I drove to the idea of Italy.
After the field hockey team at URI was cut, my first intentions were to transfer. I looked at three schools, but didn’t feel right at any of them. I then realized that I wouldn’t feel right at URI without playing a sport next fall. As I meditated on all of this, I realized that there was a silver lining. It took me 3,000 miles of driving (the approximate distance from New York to Italy) and a 1,000 mile flight to Saint Louis to figure it out, but I realized that studying abroad would be the perfect opportunity to escape dwelling on something I couldn’t change and instead take advantage of an opportunity to do something new. That is when I arrived at the idea of Rome.
In the next few months I will have the opportunity to travel, learn, and experience. I will see places including Florence, Rome, and Naples in Italy and other countries including England. I will be taking 13 credits worth of classes, and I will be leaving North America for the first time in my life.
I expect the next few months to bring with it challenges, laughs, tears, and a new beginning. When I come back I will be a different person with a stronger understanding of the world around me, I will have met new people, and I will have thrusted myself into something totally out of my element. Above all though, I will have taken a bad situation and gotten something positive out of it.
I intend to blog on the things I encounter including the sports, the film, people, wines, Italian words, the foods, and even the possibility of a half-marathon in November! I also intend to blog on the places I have the opportunity to see including London, Florence, Rome, Venice, Naples, and more! Expect pictures too!
This past week I wrote to the Freedom High School field hockey players that they must not look back. I told them that "every moment in a game matters and that if you get stuck thinking about the last moment, the last game, the last year, you’ll find yourself losing the moment at hand, and the moments ahead." It is my turn to take my own advice, and live for this moment. And with that I bid home and all the people here, farewell or in Italian that's "addio!"
