A week ago we said goodbye to our favorite city, Florence! After spending a month with my new best friends in a new international city, I was torn between missing home and being sad! I was so sad to leave the city we all knew to love, but also so excited to see family and eat Chick-fil-a. In our last weeks in Italy, we went to Milan and toured Bocconi University and the Duomo. I really enjoyed Bocconi University because we got to meet current and former students who walked us through their day-to-day lives at college. I also found it neat to be at one of the highest ranked colleges in the European Union, and the world! The following week we visited Cinque Terre as a group and got to see the beautiful cities and vibrant colors. In our last days, we gave our company consulting project presentations to our respective companies. Our group consulted for St. Regis – Marriott (located in Florence). We had a super neat company because Marriott is massively international but also wanted local deep ties in Florence. Our contact at the St. Regis was extremely helpful and nice to work with. He always seemed grateful for our advice and eager to work with us. I hadn’t originally expected him to care what we said, but he truly did! He was extremely invested in what we were presenting and it was very kind.
In my time abroad, I have learned to be much more flexible. For my type – A personality, it was sometimes challenging and stressful to not have exact plans or rides figured out. BUT! It always worked out for us and I think it taught me to be a little more hands off. I would say that Florence surpassed any expectations that I had, but I wasn’t necessarily expecting to get tired of the food. I mentioned how excited I was for Chick-fil-a because sometimes comfort food is just needed! After traveling all day and being in a foreign country for so long, it is nice to have things that remind you of home!
I will always love Florence and the friends I made in the sweet city! I cannot wait to get back to College Station and hangout with the 30 friends we made!
