Study Abroad Semester at NYU Florence - Florence, Italy
Entering college the idea of Study Abroad hadn't crossed my mind until I joined GLASS and one of their main requirements is to study abroad your sophomore spring semester. This opportunity allowed me to truly immerse myself into a new culture and be able to gain new perspectives on an environment completely different from what I have ever known along with a beautiful change of scene. The courses and the activities that the program offered, gave m the insight to really understand the European life style. From a class about how gardens are created in Italy, taking an elementary level course of Italian and visiting local places to learn our new phrases.
While also having opportunities to learn about “The Hunger Gap: Cooking Workshop”. This event educated us about Italian agriculture, there is a time of the year where the Tuscan region has very little fresh produce that can be harvested, this period is known as “The Hunger Gap”. “Lemon Day”, this was important because of the Medici Family. The medici family was a very powerful family that used their money to influence not only Florence but Italy and Europe overall. The Medici Family was said to have a thing about lemons and they had collected the world's biggest collection of citrus trees . They also influence a lot of Tuscan gardens to plant lemon trees.
J-Term Abroad at Bandung, Indonesia - Sustainability and Service Course
This Winter Study abroad completed in Indonesia has not only given me a deeper prospective of Indonesian Culture but as well as their economical methods. We were introduced to a group called Teras Hijab project that aims to promote and teach sustainability in their community. Some things we did was to advocate to local people to save organic waste. We also got a closer look about eco enzymes and how to use organic waste to make soap, these gave initiatives for women empowerment through entrepreneurship.
Being able to immerse ourselves through a first hand experience by learning from a much smaller school called Sakola Motekar. Their non-formal education helped me understand the innovative approach to emphasize interactive and collaborative learning. This new way of teaching taught many students how collaborative learning helps to educate younger kids.