“Buy experiences, not things. Spending on experiences makes people happier than spending on things. Things get broken and go out of style. Experiences get better every time you talk about them." ~ Jean Chatzky
I hear all the time from students that they want to backpack around Europe when they graduate, or move some place warmer, or get the heck out of their home town no matter what the cost. Growing up around Buffalo I heard it all the time: "Ugh, I just want to get out this city!" The grass is always greener on the other side.
After living in several different places I can confidently say that the desire to leave home is very natural and often a necessary part of growing up. Whether it be going to college far away, working in a different part of the country, or a short vacation, gaining different perspectives is a vital part to understanding the world's problems, and how to make them better (this is why university professors are encouraged to take sabbaticals several times throughout their careers).
So when any of our players express an interest in traveling abroad, we're happy to push them out the door for a while, so long as it's not during volleyball season! Our team captain, Paulina Rein, just returned from a month-long trip to Italy, and below she shares what she learned over the last 30 days:
So this summer wasn’t like the others I have had. I usually come home from Fredonia, leave all my things unpacked, head to the gym to get a new membership, and anxiously wait for my rec job to start up, but this summer I waited for a new adventure.
I hear all the time from students that they want to backpack around Europe when they graduate, or move some place warmer, or get the heck out of their home town no matter what the cost. Growing up around Buffalo I heard it all the time: "Ugh, I just want to get out this city!" The grass is always greener on the other side.
After living in several different places I can confidently say that the desire to leave home is very natural and often a necessary part of growing up. Whether it be going to college far away, working in a different part of the country, or a short vacation, gaining different perspectives is a vital part to understanding the world's problems, and how to make them better (this is why university professors are encouraged to take sabbaticals several times throughout their careers).
So when any of our players express an interest in traveling abroad, we're happy to push them out the door for a while, so long as it's not during volleyball season! Our team captain, Paulina Rein, just returned from a month-long trip to Italy, and below she shares what she learned over the last 30 days:
So this summer wasn’t like the others I have had. I usually come home from Fredonia, leave all my things unpacked, head to the gym to get a new membership, and anxiously wait for my rec job to start up, but this summer I waited for a new adventure.
A major emphasis on almost all of the websites was to study abroad if you have the opportunity to. It was always something I had dreamed of doing, but never really took the initiative to do research and find a program I would enjoy.
After hours of searching for the right program I came across “Summer in Rome”,
through Stony Brook College. I then realized that one of my best friends;
Fredonia Volleyball alumni Hannah Manning also did a summer program through
Stony Brook. I called her and we talked for hours about the great experience
you get through studying abroad and how much better of an experience it is if
you go through a program where you do not know the people you will be traveling
with.
The thought of traveling to a different country with people I would not know was a little scary, but after hearing about all the great aspects of traveling with a different school, I knew I had to send in my application asap.
The thought of traveling to a different country with people I would not know was a little scary, but after hearing about all the great aspects of traveling with a different school, I knew I had to send in my application asap.
After six months of waiting it was finally time to get on
that nine-hour flight to Rome. Once I landed I knew it was going to be a whole
new world for a month, but my excitement was out of the roof.
I was shocked to
find out that the professors who were in charge of the program were all older
men
and woman and I was very happy to find out that they were the people who would
teach us and take us on our tours, because they actually grew up in Italy and truly
knew everything about the culture.
They wanted us to have the best time we could possibly have,
and they made sure of that by having something planned for us every single class.
Lets not talk about the classes though, but about all the
amazing places I got to see and the people I was fortunate enough to meet. My
top three favorite places were Sorrento, Cinque Terre, and Florence:
Sorrento
Sorrento was one of our first day trips we took. After walking around Pompeii all day in the 102-degree weather we finally made our way to the beaches. I cannot even begin to explain the beauty of the mountains, the homes, shops, and water that surrounded me. It was something so beautiful that pictures could not do it justice. The water was so refreshing and I was able to take in all that I experienced that day, from walking on ancient Roman roads to riding on a stick shift bus through all the curvy hectic streets of Sorrento. Oh I was sitting in the very first seat of this bus ride, and that was very scary to see the little Vespa’s race around our bus on such tiny streets!
Sorrento was one of our first day trips we took. After walking around Pompeii all day in the 102-degree weather we finally made our way to the beaches. I cannot even begin to explain the beauty of the mountains, the homes, shops, and water that surrounded me. It was something so beautiful that pictures could not do it justice. The water was so refreshing and I was able to take in all that I experienced that day, from walking on ancient Roman roads to riding on a stick shift bus through all the curvy hectic streets of Sorrento. Oh I was sitting in the very first seat of this bus ride, and that was very scary to see the little Vespa’s race around our bus on such tiny streets!
Cinque Terre
Cinque
Terre means 5 cities, so while you are there you take trains to go see all the
five different cities. All the cities have breathtaking views of the homes and
the water from up above the mountains. Me and a group of others stopped at the
third city for some time, and found an awesome cove where people were swimming
and sitting on rocks. We jumped off rocks, enjoyed some amazing fish, and
climbed some pretty awesome mountains to get amazing views. This was just a
wonderful day spent with wonderful people.
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| Cinque Terre |
Florence
Florence was one of the last places we
were able to see. One night while we were in Florence me
and another girl in the program Emma wondered the streets and walked
along the river when we came across a little café that was hidden but sat right
along the side the river. The sun was setting as we sat there and drank cappuccinos
thinking this was so great. However, what was extra special about this night
was the woman that we met as we sat there. She was just something else, and
somewhat reminded me of Ryan Maloney, If you know him I think you can kind of
understand where I am coming from and possibly get an idea of what this woman
was like. Me and Emma stayed
in our room taking in the amazing night and finishing it off with the Lizzie
McGuire movie.
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| Night time on the river in Florence |
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| Visiting Roman Forum |