"Passage through Time"
Study abroad fills the "gap" between past and future; history and present. Study Abroad is the ultimate passage to hands-on learning. You are living and seeing what you have been studying about, while touching tangible artifacts of the past and taking pictures of it with your gadgets of today. Each person through this passage carries a different load, some heavy and some light. No matter the weight of the load you may carry, study abroad lifts you up and propels you forward, while changing your life forever.
"Learning like a lemon"
To me, education is like a lemon in Sorrento, Italy. Education needs to be instilled early into our lives so that we may be fruitful throughout the rest of our lives. Most lemon trees will begin bearing fruit within two to five years of planting. Lemon trees can survive and continue to bear fruit regularly for more than 50 years if they are
planted right and continue to be cultivated. Just like a lemon may need artificial sweetners to enhave the powerful lemon flavor, education may need diversity to sweeten the overall educational experience. Study abroad is that sweetener and I recommend it for everyone.
"Majesty of the Past"
Study Abroad invites us to sit down and appreciate the work of otheres, millions of others that have gone before us. Everything from smells in the air from artisan bread, infamous marble statues, and churches that tower toward the heavens remind us of the others who have walked before us. Works of others show us that through education (craft or trade) that the world learns from each other and inspires us to leave our mark on history.
"Io Sono Sempre Qui"Mount Vesuvius overlooks Pompei and reminds us that he is still there and he isn't going anywhere. Just like Mount Vesuvius there are several objects as well as events in history that teach valuable lessons for the future. Mount Vesuvius leveled Pompeii and killed hundreds of thousands of people. Tribulation and tragedy may have passed of be quaking nearby, but as time goes on we mend and heal. Throughout time most disasters are causation for improvement and it's when we learn the most.....
Just as the old lady in Pompeii mentioned "It is not just the power of the sun or the curative drops of Amalfi rain that spring forth the poppies, but it is the soil in which they grow!" And what soil would that be I ask here? The soil caused by Vesuvius! And what makes the soil great, I ask? The soil has "ash" in it so the poppies grow redder! Whether or not her folklore serves well, I know that the educational experience in the Siena 2011 Study Abroad was indeed the best soil and educational seed could have been planted it.
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