One day I was walking across the O’Connell Center stage in my cap and gown, and the next day I was on a flight to Italy.

I graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in public relations and a minor in Florida teaching May 6, and left for a month-long study abroad program in Florence, Italy, May 7. What better way to celebrate surviving undergrad than a trip abroad?

Emily Griffin Photography

You might be wondering why I didn’t study abroad while I was still, you know, a UF student. The truth is, I never thought I would have any interest in studying abroad. My family travels frequently and over the past 10 years or so I have traveled to 48 states and seven countries, with the rest of the world on my bucket list. I know what you’re about to ask, so let me just go ahead and answer that burning question: the two states I haven’t been to are Alaska and Hawaii. Since I travel so much with my family, I never thought I would have a desire to travel with a group of 120 other students I don’t know very well.

That all changed when I heard about UF’s College of Journalism and Communications study abroad programs. As soon as information became available for the 2018 Italy trip, my name was on the list. At just under a month long and with such an enticing destination, I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Fortunately for me, graduating seniors are still given the chance to go on the trip.

Since this is study abroad and not technically just a vacation, I’ll be taking a course called Happiness taught by Professor Mike Weigold while I’m in Italy. The class focuses on what happiness is, what it is not, and how you can make yourself a happier person. If I fail a class called Happiness while spending a month in an amazing foreign country, there’s a real problem.

While I am extremely excited to spend a month abroad, there is also a side of nerves that comes with traveling alone for the first time. I realized that I have never flown without one of my relatives with me and for someone who isn’t the biggest fan of flying, it’s uneasy territory. I’ll be exploring a whole new world with new friends by my side and that’s scary and thrilling all at once!

Some of the highlights I’m looking forward to most while living in Florence for the next month are exploring the ancient architecture in Rome (I’m a Latin nerd), eating as much pasta as I possibly can, and attempting to recreate the entire plot of The Lizzie McGuire Movie – study abroad is what dreams are made of, right?

I hope you’ll follow along with my Italian adventures through my blog posts on UF Blog from Abroad. Stay tuned for what’s to come!