CET Midyear in Florence

As a midyear student, I participated in the CET Florence Program during my very first semester of college. Everything about the experience of being abroad was brand new to me, but I was so ready to get going! I spent my semester studying in bars (the Italian word for a caffe), walking the city, attending classes at CET and traveling around Italy and Europe. There were a few parts of the program I found particularly challenging: first of all, the program is very small. If a cohort just doesn't click, it can be difficult to find close friends. That was my experience, and it pushed me to truly learn how to travel on my own and how to be productive and happy in my own routines. Second, the program is organized so that there is a 10 day fall break during which students are entirely responsible for figuring out travel plans. This was especially difficult for me because I did not find a group of friends I wanted to travel with, and my family did not come and visit. I also have never had experience planning my own trips before as a freshman in college. The CET staff are absolutely incredible whenever you need help academically or in terms of travel ideas and tips, so they were my primary resource for places to go and things to see! Some of my favorite parts of the CET experience included connecting with Florence through my Renaissance art history course, meeting Italian high school and university students, and enjoying some of the best food I have ever eaten during the Italian Food and Culture course. All in all, I came back to the states with more confidence and a stronger sense of independence than I knew I could have, some of the best travel stories and experiences ever, and I had fallen deeply in love with Florence.