Student Bloggers

Alycia Parker is a student blogger studying at Arcadia in Granada, Spain I apologize for not writing for so long! My mom came to visit me in the middle of November, and since then I have been super busy with classes, exams and trying to make the most…

Jacob Vandever is a student blogger studying at the UMBRA INSTITUTE in Perugia, Italy Hello everyone. This is the last blog I’ll be writing (unfortunate I know). Today’s topic is going to be on staying in touch with people from your program once your…

I am writing this on the flight from Heathrow to Chicago, and I have a lot of mixed emotions about the semester coming to an end. It’s crazy to think that I have lived in Perugia for almost four months. I feel like moments ago, I was stepping off the…

Christmas in Italy is magical. In the hill city, the air is just cold enough to make your nose red and your eyes water. About a week ago, an ice rink went up just around the corner from my apartment. It’s decorated with lights and garlands. All around…

Three months to live in London seems like plenty of time. But one day, you can use your fingers to count how many days you have left to do, see, and eat the last of what’s on your list! Unfortunately, the time you feel desperate to do it all is coupled…

How do I begin to describe Iceland? Cold? Rainy? Windy? It’s a three-way tie with those adjectives. It was beautiful of course, but I wasn’t very well prepared in the wardrobe department, so I was a little bitter. The trip was fun, but I have a few regrets…

Today I wanted to share a few of my favorite spots in London, while they’re not totally off the beaten track, I didn’t see them the first time I came to London, so that makes them unique to this experience for me! I live in the borough of Southwark,…

Hello everyone! Sorry, it has been so long. A lot has been happening especially with the semester winding down. I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about community engagement opportunities at the Umbra Institute, where I am currently studying in…

For the second half of my mid-trimester break, six of us drove to the northern coast of New Zealand where we spent the week playing cards, tossing frisbees, and lying in the cold sand, trying to pretend it was summertime. By that time, our little group…