International Travel Schedule

People would constantly ask if I was excited to go to Rome. And my answer was always, "I don't know."

For me, it was hard to feel anticipation or a thrill over something completely beyond anything I've ever known. I did not really understand what Rome looked like or the scent of its air. I wasn't even certain how well I would fare with the budding Italian speaking skills I'd gained through classes at Loyola's Chicago campuses.

So I focused on the bustle of everyday life until I stepped off the plane at Fumicino. And on the bus ride to the John Felice Rome Center, I began to see why everyone at home seemed so thrilled at my opportunity to study abroad.

Even the most mundane of Roman scenes seemed as if they'd popped out of post cards. Everyone, including garbage men, possessed a keen sense of appearance and fashion. Even the sun at the end of August, one of Rome's most oppressing months of heat, felt somehow better.

It was no surprise, then, that the Rome Center, tucked away from the city center in Monte Mario, also felt just perfect. Its front courtyard garden, the old-school dorms, and even Rinaldo's café proved immediately inviting.

My four classes focused on the theology of Jesus Christ, Italian-American cinema, Italian culture, and Dr. John Nicolson's Art in Rome. The latter took us on-site to some of the world’s greatest art and architectural treasures, where we studied their history and symbolism. Very quickly, I found myself earning high marks on tests and papers because I was so enamored with the concept of living in the place I was learning about, and vice versa.

Everything I studied in class came to life as I walked Rome's streets, met its people, and visited its churches and monuments.

Through this combination of classroom and practical learning, I was falling in love with Rome every day. And to prove it, I ultimately earned straight A's with what seemed like no effort. After all, every assignment was a labor of love.

During my semester I visited 13 other cities in Europe, a privilege that humbled me as I struggled with language barriers, learned to navigate strange cities and different cultures, and budget money wisely. Most importantly, these travels and my time in Rome helped me understand just how big the world really is. I gained a broad perspective that still guides me in my current career as a journalist.

Cities like Barcelona, Vienna, and Berlin could have tempted me to live there, but ultimately I always felt a pull to return to Rome. Truly, it had become my new home.

It makes sense, then, that much of my heart still remains in the Eternal City and at the Rome Center. If life had worked out as I'd liked, I would have never left and remained as an English teacher, a tour guide—anything that would let me stay connected to the profound growth I experienced at Loyola. But at home my single mother, who struggled with a rare heart condition, needed my help raising my 6-year-old sister, Megan. Plus, how could I miss all those school plays?

Ultimately, I was needed for much more than elementary school milestones. My mother's heart disease eventually won and, at 26, I found myself a single parent to Megan, who was just 11 at the time. But even amid my grief and adjusting to my new role, I quickly planned a visit to the city and campus of my heart.

When words and even family could not bring me peace, I was certain I would find solace in the place that first taught me where I fit in on this earth. And when I returned home, I was ready to rise to the challenge of my new life as a parent.

Today, a decade later, I am comforted and inspired to see the newest crop of students each year stumbling through Italian sentences, mastering their way around Rome's winding streets and showing off their newfound art history knowledge to their visiting parents. Someday, I hope Megan will be lucky enough to share this experience and leave the Rome Center knowing where she fits into the world and how she can impact it—in the words of St. Ignatius Loyola—for the greater glory of God.

But for now, I always aim to remain involved with the Rome Center so I might help other students discover its blessings. And, of course, I will always come back to my second home.

One of the last things Alana Joyce remembers seeing during her campus tour was a red banner proclaiming Loyola’s Rome Center. It stuck in her mind. Indeed, Loyola is a great place to embrace study abroad. With more than 100 programs in 55 countries, we offer students incredible opportunities to explore new cultures and come back with a much bigger world view. Once at Loyola, Alana took us up on that opportunity and did study abroad—in three different places during one year.

“I spent my summer in Tunisia, which was phenomenal and life-changing. I spent my fall semester in Australia at Griffith University which was quite an adventure, and I ended up going to the Rome Center last semester.” The Rome Center had extra appeal for her. “I’m an Italian citizen—I’m a dual citizen—so I got to work on my language skills there. Rome is beautiful, it’s incredible and it makes it so easy to study abroad since it’s connected with Loyola.”

Study abroad provides eye-opening experiences through cultural immersion—students study, explore, and acquire a new language, while steeped in the traditions of their host country. It grows students’ world views but also can help them clarify their educational choices. “Traveling to Tunisia really allowed me to understand what I wanted to focus on through political science,” Alana says. It also merged perfectly with her interdisciplinary international studies major and her Italian language and literature minor. Alana says study abroad has played a “huge” role in tying her education and experience together. Her end goal is now law school.

Loyola’s faculty members have helped, too. “Professors really open a lot of doors for you; they can make connections,” Alana says. She’s working on a graduate research project on post-revolutionary Tunisia with the professor who led her Tunisia trip. Another professor put her in touch with work on a political campaign.

A Loyola Jesuit education is about exploring what’s over the horizon. “It does push you to challenge yourself and to find things you didn’t know you’d do or be interested in before. I feel very well-rounded and I appreciate that from Loyola.”