ANDIAMO IN ITALIA

REFLECTION
SUMMER 2016

FLORENCE, ROME, AND NAPLES

ITALY

Growing up with the contradiction of having the name

Olivia Spampinato while also being fair-haired with light blue
eyes has always prompted people to second-guess my
Italian heritage. This changes instantly when they meet my
54 father with black hair, brown eyes, and a naturally dark
complexion that matches perfectly with my older brother.
Despite the long, constantly mispronounced last name and
the fact that my family eats ravioli for our Christmas meal, I
have never felt as close with my Italian heritage as I wanted.
My grandfathers family traveled to America from the
southern Italian island of Sicily. My father always told stories
of my grandfather making pasta every night for dinner and
the stereotypical Italian habits that always stuck with him.
Unfortunately, my grandpa passed away before I was born
so I did not get the chance to grow up with the same direct

connection to my Sicilian heritage. The only Italian I heard

was from my dads favorite television show, The Sopranos,
or the occasional word spoken by my Great Uncle Sam or
other older members of the family that I usually only see at
family reunions. The language, the culture, and the ties to
my family history have always fascinated me and made me
want to learn more.

In high school, I took Latin and French classes because

I knew these particular Romance Languages are close to the

Italian language. My original plan was to find an Italian

tutor, but when I started as a freshman at the University of
Cincinnati last fall, I was able to take Italian class instead,
where I formed a strong foundation for the language and
learned about the Andiamo in Italia study abroad trip led by
my teacher. My Italian professor, Joyce Miller, noticed my
interest in the language and culture and asked me to
prepare for an interview to see if I would be a match with
this particular study abroad. After a one-on-one interview
and countless visits with academic, study abroad, and
honors advisors, I was accepted for the study abroad
program and was able to transform it into two honors
experiences.
During the interview process, I was warned that this
trip would not be a relaxing vacation, and although I
believed her, I had no idea the amount of work I would put
into this experience and the knowledge and skills I would
gain. Before this, I had never been far from home and had
only been in an airplane once. From preparing a self-led

tour of a Neapolitan church I chose to flying across the

country alone to meet people in the airport that I barely
knew, this trip tested my self-sufficiency and challenged me
in ways I had never been challenged before. Navigating an
unknown area with only a vague grasp on the language and
trying to fit into a culture with vast differences from the one
I was accustomed to tested my ability to rely on myself and
trust my instincts. Interacting with new roommates and
classmates of various nationalities forced me to step out of
my introverted comfort zone and completely immerse
myself in my learning experience and build bonds with those
around me.

This experience was both physically and emotionally

taxing for me. In addition to the 4 hours a day of classes,
we had to put in 90 hours of cultural and language learning
activities (such as day trips, tours, and visits to sites like
museums and ruins) for each of the 3 cities we visited. The
expectations were high and we were tested on our ability to
speak, understand, and write in Italian. We were also tested
on cultural facts from each activity we did and each site we
visited. I loved every place we were able to see and never
lost my interest or drive to learn more, but it was physically
exhausting to be on the go constantly, resulting in me
getting sick for a few days while we were in Rome. While I
was sick, I still had to meet my goals for the day and was
very fatigued and frustrated; this was the only time during
the entire trip that I really wanted to go home. I was sick
and half way across the world from my family, but I knew I
had to stay positive in order to feel better both physically
and emotionally. The coping skills I gained from this
experience will help me in all aspects of life. I know that
there are certain things that are beyond my control and I will

always have expectations I need to meet in life and in my

future career. Keeping a positive attitude and understanding
that theres no point in getting overly frustrated over things
that cannot be changed is a new goal I have set for myself
since going on this trip.

In Florence, Rome, and Naples I learned about the

people, the food, the culture, the language, and how I fit into
all of it. The beautiful landscapes and endless supply of
great food and wine made my experience of the country
practically perfect. But I still saw homelessness, refugees,
the Brexit, and was in class with a girl from Turkey when the
news came that the Turkish airport was attacked. I went
into the trip naively thinking that Italy was a sort of magical
place where I would not see the type of problems I see in
the Cincinnati city streets like homelessness and hunger.
The bad I saw in Italy paled in comparison to the amazing

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sites like Pompeii, the Island of Elba, the Amalfi Coast, the
museums and leather factories in Florence, and the Vatican
in Rome; but the amount of suffering that I did see
combined with my new love of traveling and adventure has
made me rethink my future plans.

I always thought I would graduate nursing school then

immediately work in a hospital like Childrens Hospital in
Cincinnati where I would stay long-term, but now I know I
want to travel too. I would like to go on trips with
organizations like the Doctors Without Borders association to
be a nurse on mission trips to impoverished areas in
addition to working in hospitals in the States. Without this
trip, I never would have considered stepping out of my
comfort zone this drastically. I surprised myself with how

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well I was able to travel and explore unfamiliar areas

independently while learning as much as I could. I have a
new-found confidence in my self-sufficiency, problem solving
skills, cooperation and communication skills with people who
are very different from me, and my ability to thrive under
pressure. All of these skills are preparing me to be the best
nurse I can be and a better individual too.

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