Hi, my name is Morgan Mendoza and I have been studying abroad at the John Felice Rome Center in Rome, Italy the past semester. I am a psychology major, but this semester I have mostly been taking general education requirements that pertain to my surroundings here in Rome, particularly religion and history classes, as well as Italian language. I wish I would have been more proficient in speaking Italian before I arrived because I would have been able to more quickly connect with the locals around the university, instead of relying on my experiences at home where everyone speaks the same language, English. The biggest difference I have noticed between life in the Chicagoland area versus Rome is that Italians find it more important to enjoy life rather than spending their days working long hours. In general, life moves with less urgency than it does in the U.S. While I at first found this frustrating, I! have come to appreciate the differences between daily life in Italy and the U.S. Other than this, and obviously the language barrier, life is not too different from what I have experienced at home. Overall, being able to study abroad and live in Rome, as well as being able to travel to other European countries, has expanded my knowledge of other cultures and allowed me to value the contrasts between the U.S. and other places in the world. To my donors, thank you for allowing me to have this invaluable learning experience; I’m very grateful to have received the Speros Fund and without it I would not have been able to have this incredible semester here in Rome.

News Contact

Alexandra Olson Coordinator of the Global Engagement Office
847-735-5231 aolson@lakeforest.edu