在刚刚过去的2019年秋天，我有一个令人兴奋的机会通过IES海外的罗马语言和地区研究项目出国留学。必威体育投注betway通过课堂内外的讲座，几次学术实地考察，以及IES罗马学院的教师，我在罗马学习

极其身临其境。虽然我的家乡学校没有提供与环保相关的课程，但我在我能想到的最合适的城市里接触到了环保技术和实践!IES Rome有组织的活动和寄宿家庭也很好地介绍了罗马和意大利文化，并激励我自己发现更多关于我的主办城市。我没有比这更好的体验了!

这是一个自我成长、冒险和更广泛地了解世界的好机会。IES Rome让我有机会沉浸在意大利文化中，并鼓励我使用我的语言技能。我对罗马很熟悉，也成长了

真正热爱这座城市和它几千年的历史。在罗马的大本营也让我可以去意大利很多不同的地方旅行，包括五渔村、威尼斯、阿马尔菲、佛罗伦萨、米兰和圣吉米尼亚诺。这是一个不可思议的4个月，我很高兴也很感激我能有这样一个千载难逢的学期。

去罗马的第一周感觉就像被判了死刑。我不认识学校里的其他人，也没有其他欧洲高中的朋友和我在一起，所以我被强烈的孤立感和孤独感困扰了大约一个星期

来了。这让我又一次想起了大学一年级的生活，只不过这里有一种全新的语言和文化，这是我以前从未经历过的。我进来的时候想:“我要马上找到旅行伙伴，计划各种令人惊叹的奇妙冒险!”但当这一切没有发生时，我感到困惑和漫无目的。我知道我不应该浪费这段海外经历，但我很想家，渴望熟悉——一些能让我感觉更好的东西。直到我出国的第二周去了马耳他，我才真正了解了自己，并感到自己被定罪了。必威体育投注betway我和我的一个室友和他的朋友一起去那里旅行，和四个我完全不认识的人住在一间公寓里。最终，我决定自己去探索这个岛屿，这是我在罗马做的最好的决定之一!我当时就知道，我不需要依靠别人去旅行!独自一人让我可以做我想做的事情，而且我从中得到的东西比和别人在一起要多得多。意识到这一点后，我独自去了佛罗伦萨、威尼斯和诺曼底。 People might say that I'll be lonely while traveling alone, and having friends can make experiences better, but I also learned that it's okay to travel by myself and see the things I want to see and enjoy this beautiful continent on my own terms. I chose Rome for the History and Classics program, my two majors. I have studied Latin since middle school, so seeing the Roman Forum and thousands of ancient inscriptions across the city has opened my eyes and allowed me to learn the material unlike any other semester. In any given week, we learn about certain subjects in class and then go out into the city and see them in person later! Every day I was awestruck in wonder and amazement at the Roman ruins before me, a dream come true that I had been chasing since I was ten or eleven years old. That sense of utter disbelief is something I can’t really describe in writing or conversation; it’s something that must be experienced to fully appreciate. Overall, Rome was an absolute blessing. The food was kind to me, the views and scenic sights blew me away with their magnificence and elegance, and the abundance of Roman ruins was a daily reminder of why I came here. I discovered something new about this Eternal City on a daily basis, and a lifetime of living here wouldn’t be enough to uncover every secret Rome has to offer. For if we were made to stay in one place, then we would have been born with roots. Studying abroad was easily one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I would absolutely make the same decision if I did the process all over again.