Santa Reparata International School of Art

Fridays at SRSIA meant two things -- no class and field trips. One particular Friday we went on an excursion to Castello Di Verrazzano, a vineyard in Chianti. This experience was totally unique and something that I would never have had at home.

Upon arriving at the vineyard, we were welcomed by our lovely tour guides who walked us around the grounds and explained to us the process of making wine. Afterwards, to make the day truly incredible, we were given a delicious meal and wine tasting in which we were able to try many of the wines we were told about during our tour.

The day was filled with intriguing information, incredible wine, fine dining, and an overall sense of relaxation that can only come from spending a day in Chianti!

My study abroad experience was unique and special for several reasons. I’d like to highlight two -- first, the class sizes at SRISA were small and intimate. This allowed me to truly interact with my professors in class. I had never been in a class of three people until coming to SRISA and could not speak more highly of it after the fact. I received valuable feedback and knowledge from these small class sizes.

Secondly, I entered this study abroad adventure not knowing anyone else who would be attending SRISA. While this was daunting at first, I made sure I had confidence and put myself out there in order to make new connections.

While your friends back home will be waiting for you when you get home, it is hard to stay in touch when you are abroad. I made wonderful friends at SRISA including students from my own university. I'm so glad I wasn't attached to social media, but rather, chose to interact with the new individuals around me -- definitely no regrets!

I think that Italy is, paradoxically, a very underrated destination. Most students today spend a summer here thinking that it can be enough for their CV. The issue is that Italy is a very complex country that should be seriously studied and lived during the less touristy season.

The social networks have threatened the effectiveness of the so called "cultural shock", so that when a student spends a summer or 4-5 weeks here, unfortunately he/she does not live Italy and thus cannot understand the complexity of Italian society and Italian culture. The ideal time to live a full experience abroad is a semester, especially the fall semester, when you can actually enjoy the city, its social dynamics, its museums and interact with the locals.

A foreign language broadens your mind, makes you see things under a different perspective and gives you the tools for maturing as a person, which is the goal that every educational system should have. Learning a foreign language opens you up to other people and places you in a mindset of understanding other cultures. It makes you a better individual and thus contributes in building better societies.

Russian and German. Both because of the terrific literary tradition of these countries. I’ve made it halfway: I speak Russian fluently, but I don't speak any German. One day, maybe, I will fully accomplish this "mission"; I won't give up.

Many. SRISA is much more than a school. SRISA is a family that cares about you. All the students who come here to study appreciate our environment and the people who work in it. The staff is always available, nice, helpful and friendly.

The faculty is young, but experienced, made up of scholars who continue studying and improving day by day to offer the best education affordable to everyone.

SRISA is an enriching community where students are explore their new environment and push themselves academically and personally, yet feel at home. At the end of the semester, none of the students ever want to leave.

Education in general and study abroad in particular are too focused on the monetization aspect today. Education is not a commodity, you cannot buy it. Education is a social elevator, it makes you a different person. Good education builds good civil consortiums and makes the world a better place to live.

How can we hope to improve our societies, to correct the things we don't like around us if we don't make good education accessible for everybody? How can we complain about the social dynamics of our times, about the "social disorder" if we keep good education as a luxury product? One of the philosophies of SRISA is exactly this: fight with all our means against this mentality and to offer the best international education we can to everyone.

Every time I see a colleague speaking with a student out of his office hours; every time the emergency phone rings in the middle of the night and the person in charge of it does not complain and hurries to fix the problem; every time I look around me and think of how the school has grown from being an art school to offering world-class courses in Liberal Arts and Design, with such a dedicated staff, faculty, and administration - I'm really proud of being a part of this group.

The culture of beauty in the differences. Italy is a very old country and a very young nation; our culture is a mix of influences from everywhere and you can see it clearly in the amount of art, monuments, archaeological sites we have here. Italy can change you. Just open yourself up to it.