I read this quote on the wall of a bar in Barcelona, Spain, while I was studying abroad this past semester. I lived in Rome, Italy for about five months studying at the American University of Rome, which Point Park University is affiliated with. This experience truly influenced me and changed my outlook on life.

I’ve always loved traveling and decided in high school that I wanted to study abroad when I went to college. Point Park has programs in Paris, London and Rome. I decided on Rome because I was really interested in Italian culture.

I set off for Rome at the end of January 2008 with two suitcases and a backpack. I met two of my new roommates at the airport and, little did we know, we were about to have an interesting adventure. Our plane from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia was running late and when we finally got there we missed our flight to Italy by six minutes. We then spent three hours at the airport finding another flight. They decided to send us to Munich, Germany, where we had to get a flight to France and then finally to Rome. We were already traveling all over Europe and it was our first day.

It was late when we arrived in Rome and we had missed the bus to our University so we found ourselves a hotel and spent the next day looking for our school. We were riding a bus through Rome when all of a sudden we passed the Coliseum. I remember being amazed that we just passed this amazing historical place, but as the months went on, it became normal to pass monumental structures like this one.

Living in the eternal city was so interesting and exciting. Everywhere I went was so beautiful. The people were pleasant and laidback, and everyone was always dressed their best. Italy truly does have the best shoes. This influenced the way I dressed. There was no way I could go to the grocery store in sweatpants like in the United States. I quickly learned how to not look American, though I’m sure Italians could still pick me out as an “Americana.”