My name is Kathleen Antos and I am from Crest Hill, Illinois. My home university was Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville I studied abroad at John Cabot in Summer 2018 for the accelerated five-week program.
The JCU Experience
John Cabot University was one of the most amazing and eye-opening experiences I have ever had in my life. The school has given me so much more than an educational opportunity. While abroad, I studied Personality Psychology and decided to take an elective course, the History of Ancient Rome. In the psychology class, I was truly tested with the fast-paced high-intensity classroom. My teacher was so intelligent; she challenged our class with difficult, yet interesting, material and made the course entertaining so that we felt comfortable to learn and ask questions. My history class was, by far, the greatest class I have ever taken in my entire college experience. We never met in the classroom to learn, but always learned on-site. We had classes in the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Ostia Antica, and so many more ancient historical sites. While both of these courses were extremely illuminating, I found the most interesting part of studying abroad to be the experiences outside of the classroom.
Visiting Italy
I lived in JCU’s Gianicolo Residence Hall with some of the most wonderful women in the world. In the five weeks that we studied abroad in Rome we created a special, indescribable bond. Now, two years later, the group of women that I made friends with in Rome still talks every day and we constantly reminisce about our adventures. With such a short time in Rome, we took advantage of every second. During the week, we attended class during the day and explored the local area at night. Whether we were being obvious tourists at the Trevi Fountain or attempting to speak Italian waiting in line to enter the Colosseum, we treasured every moment. On the weekends, we ventured outside of Rome and attempted to see more of the beautiful views that Italy had to offer. We went to Tuscany, Capri, Florence, Ischia, Pompeii, and Venice. Each place we visited was more gorgeous than the last, but after every trip, we returned back home to Rome, my favorite place.
If I were to offer the future students of John Cabot a piece of advice it would be to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity and truly experience the beauty of Italy. There is so much history and so many wonderful sites to see in Rome and other parts of the country. Find an awesome group of friends and travel to as many of these spots as you can.
Kathleen Antos
Study Abroad Summer 2018
Major in Nursing/Minor in Psychology
Southern Illinois University
