From Here to There

I remember being ten years old and sitting on the carpeted floor of my local library, shuffling through shelves and shelves of travel books (the ones I could reach, at least), flipping to the pages with the brightest colors and biggest pictures: full page spreads of intricately decorated palaces, mountain ranges that reached all the way up to the clouds, beaches painted with sunsets and colorful buildings, and countless other marvelous sites. These amazing places depicted in these books seemed so far out of reach, as if they were on an entirely different world than I was. Never did I think that I would be able to travel to the pictures on the glossy pages and see the world for myself.

Flash forward a few years and I’ve ridden elephants through the forests of Thailand, held tiger cubs on my lap, walked alongside deer in Nara, and witnessed the craziness that is Saint Patrick’s Day in New Orleans. I’m sure ten-year-old Tabby would be amazed at all the wonderful things she’ll get to see, do, and experience in her lifetime, and I’m glad Temple has given me the opportunity to add studying abroad in Rome to that list.

I considered a lot of different options when I started to plan my trip abroad, but Rome was the clear front-runner from the beginning. I’ve always had a passion and appreciation for visual arts and architecture. Throughout elementary school, middle school, and most of high school, I thought I would end up in an artistic field (museum curator was at the top of the list for a while). But things rarely work out the way you think they’re going to when you’re young—currently, I’m studying Statistical Science + Data Analytics and Management Information Systems at the Fox School of Business. While I love everything about data and statistics, I haven’t left my passion for art behind. I’m very excited for all the wonderful paintings, sculptures, and architecture that I’ll be able to see in person during my summer in Rome.

There’s a lot of pictures from those travel books that I’ve yet to see, but I’m working on changing that. Over 4,000 miles away is a city filled with people I’ve never met, food I’ve never tasted, sights I’ve never seen, the remnants of a history I’ve never known, and a culture I’ve yet to experience. I know the six weeks I’m about to spend in Rome will feel like the shortest of my life, and it is with great anticipation that I mark off the days on the calendar until I’m able to gaze out of my airplane window and witness the Philadelphia skyline disappearing behind me, making way for a new adventure.