Step-by-Step Through My First Full Day of Classes in Florence

So, it's official—we are transitioning from being a tourist to a study abroad student! This should be a breeze, right? Let me walk you through how my first day of school went at Lorenzo de Medici and all the thoughts swirling in my head during this nerve-wracking yet exciting time. Also quick note: Lorenzo de Medici is not a typical college campus in the sense that their buildings are all near one another. Make sure to double-check which building your classes are in!! They all look similar to a random door till you walk further in, don't be the person running across the city center on the first day...

The Duomo looks beautiful as ever on our walk to class!

1. 7:30 am - Wake Up

   1. Sharing a single bathroom between four girls can be tricky, so Savannah and I decided the best option was the get up a little earlier for ample time to get ready

      1. We are also always early birds, so with our commute estimated at a 13-minute walk, we wanted time to go slow and also find our classroom

2. 8:00 am - Breakfast

   1. Having gone to the store the night before, we were able to plan some breakfast meals for the week

      1. Today was toast, with a very hearty amount of almond butter, and of course, bananas! (This ended up being our breakfast meal hyperfixation.)

3. 8:30 am - Leave for class

   1. Even though our class started at 9:00 am, we were not going to chance being late!

      1. Not surprisingly, Apple Maps was wrong, and it only took us 8 minutes to walk to class. Now we don't have to leave as early each day!

4. 9:00 am - First lecture

   1. Because we are only here for 4 weeks, lectures are 3 hours long

      1. However, our first professor was amazing! She had us participate in ice breakers, but they were far from the usual ones, so we made lots of friends and were excited for the rest of the term

         1. Shout out to Professor Silvia Sellitto! Her class on the Psychology of Art and Human Creativity is well worth taking!

5. 10:15 am - Break

   1. Due to the lengthy class time, most professors will give you a 15-20 minute break to walk outside, and get a snack or drink from the vending machine

6. 11:45 am - Class is Over!

   1. Whew, that felt like forever! We have a few homework assignments for the week, as well as lots of reading outside of the class, so we headed back to out apartment to take a look at what we needed to do!

      1. Note: some professors may not let you use a computer or phone during class

         1. Make sure to bring pencil & paper just in case

7. 12:00 - 3:40 pm - Lunch & School Work

   1. It seems crazy to come home and do more school work, but it's needed to stay ahead!

      1. Our professor had assigned lots of articles to read before the next class and we didn't want to fall behind

8. 3:45 pm - Walk to my second class

   1. I chose to take a second course while here, so I walked back to the same building by myself and prepare for another 3 hour class

9. 5:30 pm - Break

   1. This class was much smaller, with only eight people (two of them ended up dropping so now only five!) Our professor had us do typical icebreakers and went straight into lecturing

10. 6:45 pm - Class is over

    1. I will walked home, stopping by the store to grab some ingredients to make some dinner!

11. 7:30 pm - More note taking

    1. I didn't realize just how much reading articles and note taking I would be doing, so completing bits and pieces when I have free time is absolutely necessary!!

12. 9:30 pm - Bedtime!

    1. I know...it's really early to go to bed before 10 when in Italy! But the clubs were not calling our names, our beds were after that long of a day!

That concluded our first day! It was longer and more mentally exhausting than I had anticipated, but truly incredible. We encountered many people from across the U.S. and around the globe! Despite feeling anxious about the coursework and the pressures of being in a foreign environment, our excitement remained undiminished. It's easy to romanticize life when you realize you'll be a local in this beautiful city for four weeks.