Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always dreamt of studying abroad in Italy. Maybe the Lizzie McGuire, or Mary-Kate and Ashley movies made me romanticize Italy in my mind, but I was set on walking down the ancient cobblestone steps with the aroma of fresh pasta lingering in the air. Finally, I got to preview this dream when I visited Italy the summer after my freshman year of college. I fell in love with it, especially Rome, Tuscany, and Florence. However, I realized I can come back to Rome when I am thirty years old and most things would stay the same, preserved in time like the Colosseum, or the Roman Forum. I wanted the seventeenth country I was going to visit, and third I would live in, to be different. I wanted to explore what was left of the planets dwindling biodiversity that I probably won’t have the chance to see as I grow older. I wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef before it was gone. I wanted to go as far away as I possibly could. And I wanted new beginnings…so I went to Australia.
ALINA KADYNTSEVA 