Blog, John Cabot University

“I am a year-long study abroad student at John Cabot University, pursuing a BA in International Affairs. There are several reasons why I chose to study abroad, apart from having the opportunity to live in Italy; I wanted to improve my academic and professional resume in order to be a more attractive candidate when applying to graduate programs and jobs.

Below are some ways that I applied my study abroad experience to personal, academic and professional growth:

1.       Studying abroad demands adaptability and flexibility. While in Italy, I have had to adapt to new environments, people and customs, and have become a more flexible person who can perform under new, and sometimes confusing, circumstances.

2.       With the expanding global system, it is becoming ever more difficult to remain local, or even national. Studying abroad has given me a global perspective, introducing me to different markets, currencies, business practices and expectations. I know that employers and recruiters will seek candidates who display a global outlook.

3.       Being away from home for the first time has definitely encouraged my personal growth, given me increased confidence and independence and better prepared me for the world outside college as I have had to depend on myself for balancing finances, school work, and free time.

4.       There is definitely a great difference between a candidate for a job who has never left home, and one who has lived in a different country. I believe this study abroad experience has given me a great appreciation for diversity that lies in the world, as I have came across many nationalities, races, religions, languages and cultures.

5.       While in Rome, I have strengthened my communications skills in understanding different languages, gestures and tones of voice. For employers, this means that I will be a great candidate in communicating with not only foreign clients, but with coworkers and the people in charge, as my communications skills have expanded beyond just speaking.

Studying abroad is a life changing experience in many ways, both big and small. While making new friends, visiting new and exciting places and trying new cuisine comes with the process, there are many ways in which you can take your experience and apply it to benefit you in the future. Personally, these have been the best times of my life and I am glad I chose to study abroad, especially for a year.“

Alfonso Pagaza
Texas, USA

“I am a year-long study abroad student at John Cabot University, pursuing a BA in International Affairs. There are several reasons why I chose to study abroad, apart from having the opportunity to live in Italy; I wanted to improve my academic and professional resume in order to be a more attractive candidate when applying to graduate programs and jobs.

Below are some ways that I applied my study abroad experience to personal, academic and professional growth:

1.       Studying abroad demands adaptability and flexibility. While in Italy, I have had to adapt to new environments, people and customs, and have become a more flexible person who can perform under new, and sometimes confusing, circumstances.

2.       With the expanding global system, it is becoming ever more difficult to remain local, or even national. Studying abroad has given me a global perspective, introducing me to different markets, currencies, business practices and expectations. I know that employers and recruiters will seek candidates who display a global outlook.

3.       Being away from home for the first time has definitely encouraged my personal growth, given me increased confidence and independence and better prepared me for the world outside college as I have had to depend on myself for balancing finances, school work, and free time.

4.       There is definitely a great difference between a candidate for a job who has never left home, and one who has lived in a different country. I believe this study abroad experience has given me a great appreciation for diversity that lies in the world, as I have came across many nationalities, races, religions, languages and cultures.

5.       While in Rome, I have strengthened my communications skills in understanding different languages, gestures and tones of voice. For employers, this means that I will be a great candidate in communicating with not only foreign clients, but with coworkers and the people in charge, as my communications skills have expanded beyond just speaking.

Studying abroad is a life changing experience in many ways, both big and small. While making new friends, visiting new and exciting places and trying new cuisine comes with the process, there are many ways in which you can take your experience and apply it to benefit you in the future. Personally, these have been the best times of my life and I am glad I chose to study abroad, especially for a year.“

Alfonso Pagaza
Texas, USA
www.johncabot.edu
  

Cache of Civilizations Under an Arch on Via della Lungara

I left New York at 34 because every bone in my body could feel that the window was closing. If my husband and I didn’t leave then, we would certainly remain stuck forever, twenty minutes from where we were born (in the same hospital, three months apart).  At the time I worked as a community organizer and I taught at Fordham University but we needed change. So I quit and off we went to Rome, with no prospect of work and nowhere to live. For a couple of years I bounced around English language schools and by my third year, I found John Cabot University just under the Arch in Trastevere.

One of the first John Cabot events I attended as a composition instructor was a reading by Amara Lakhous from his book, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio. This unassuming little violet book sang to me with its sometimes witty and other times heart-wrenching stories of the lives of immigrants in the Esquilino neighborhood of Rome.  And there was the author in front of us, talking about his writing process, his experience with language, and his life as an immigrant in Italy. At the end of his talk as he took his seat, I looked down, surprised at the pain radiating through my quads.  I rubbed my legs and scanned the packed Aula Magna—there was Carlos from Texas and that nice student from Morocco I met earlier in the day, and the boy from Rome who helped me fix the computer during my last class. My legs began to cramp up. I rubbed harder. I had literally been sitting on the edge of my seat for the entire presentation and question period.

After Lakhous wound up I tripped through the little streets, across Piazza San Egidio, then through Piazza Santa Maria toward the park at Piazza San Cosimato. The way the moonlight hits the cobblestones never gets old but on that particular night, it was even newer than that. I passed Da Vittorio Pizzeria, as Whiskey, the golden retriever, regarded me from under the dinner table with his electric smile curling out from his under his nose. I kept on walking and waved at the Italian card store owner as he locked his door. He looked at me with eyes gleaming and bellowed: “Spillatrice!”  “I punti!” I fired back over my shoulder.  About a year earlier I had walked in there looking for a stapler without knowing the word. Now every time I passed we went through this ritual. Tonight his laughter and the sound of his jingling keys were jewels in my ears. As I made my way up the hill toward Monteverde I replayed the night in my head. I looked back down the hill and at the piazza with its empty produce stalls gapped over the pavement like missing teeth in an aging smile. Tomorrow morning it would be bustling.

It had come, as I knew it would, as I gambled it would, when I left New York those three years earlier. I was finally where I needed to be. Mixing with exciting people, with ideas, passion, something to say! I was surrounded by students and professors from far and wide and while I could teach them, they could also teach me. It was this simple fact that set me on the edge of my seat and wrecked my quads that night. I was surrounded by a symphony of people, enveloping me with their harmonies. I was finally home.

Dr. Tara Keenan
John Cabot Writers Circle
April 2012
www.johncabot.edu