Rome: My Home Away From Home

Going into the semester, I had very little experience outside the country, in addition, I was going without anyone I had known previously. Thanks to CIS, though, my experience not only went smoothly, but was truly a life changing. To show just how helpful CIS was, the day I was supposed to fly out to Rome, my flight was delayed three times and I missed my connection to Rome. It was rescheduled, but I was a day behind my arrival and was missing my airport pick-up time. I reached out to Elizabeth Tyrie, my CIS on-site director. She got in contact with AUR and my ride from the airport was rescheduled, taking a major worry off my plate. She stayed in contact with me, making sure that I arrived. They were supportive before I had even arrived.

Once I landed all of my other worries quickly disappeared. All but one of my six roommates were with CIS as well, meaning we were able to help each other get our feet on the ground in Rome. The housing, while a bit crowded, ended being much better than I could have even hoped for given the amount of people living in the apartment. I had heard that AUR tends to put students in the same programs together, which wound out working out very well. Rome was also a fantastic place to travel from. The location of my apartment in Trastevere was five minutes from the train station which was a thirty minute ride from the airport. That means I could pack a backpack, go to a new country for the weekend, and be back by sunday. There were also CIS trips and activities organized by Elizabeth, which are discussed more later in the review. I will mention the Going Away dinner she organized before we left, where everyone in our group shared a final meal in Rome together. It was a really nice send off to the semester, not to mention getting to enjoy some absolutely fantastic food.

The academics at American University of Rome suited my needs perfectly. I wanted a few classes that filled my major requirements, which were business classes and political science classes. I also wanted at least one class to learn more about Rome, which AUR also had many offerings for. My professors were really attentive and cared about the material they were teaching. I felt like I could approach them if I needed to and the grading was very fair.

The main point of this review is to emphasize the level of support CIS and my on-site director provided myself and my fellow travelers, as well as emphasize how all the different elements of the experience combined to make such a special time of my life. The bond we built as a group was so special, that Rome went from somewhere I had never been and with no one I knew, to becoming a whole new home to me.