Intro

Okay! The blogging finally begins!

Those of you reading this probably have an idea of who I am or what I will write about. If you don't have a clue, that's fine too. To clarify for all, I'll give a quick introduction.

My name is Kate Santoro and I am a Boston University senior studying abroad in Padova, Italy. At B.U. I study photojournalism, and therefore it might seem a bit strange that I chose to study abroad in Italy instead of in a city such as London, Paris or Washington, where most of the communication programs are based. However, after being in Padova for over a month, I don't regret my decision at all. In fact, it took so long to get this blog finally going because I've been having the best time of my life.

I chose Italy as a study abroad destination for several reasons. Even while I was still in high school, I wanted to study abroad in Italy. I entered university and pursued Italian mostly due to my Italian-American culture and the connection I felt to the Italian culture. As I studied the language year after year, I grew more and more attached to it. I loved the sound of the language and I loved all my Italian professors. At one point I was a declared Italian major, but my strong interests in communications eventually pulled me into my current situation. I finally decided on a major in journalism with a minor in Italian so I could focus on building technical skills and stay exposed to Italian studies. Padova was an integral stage of my plan: I knew I had to spend time in Italy to truly get the exposure I wanted.

I originally wanted to study in one of the more famous Italian cities such as Florence or Rome, and I would have never considered Padova had B.U. not based its program here. I only knew of Padova in reference to Saint Anthony of Padua or its reknowned university. That said, I am so completely happy I ended up here. I feel truly exposed to Italy; there are not many Americans here, there is a necessity to speak Italian, and life does not revolve around tourism. After only a few weeks I knew I was going to be devastated to leave come December.

Okay, down to business. This blog is going to consist of two parts. The first is the type of stuff I just wrote above: narratives, thoughts, and advice for anyone considering the B.U. Padova program. The second will be a photo component: I'm going to post 12 photographs over the course of the next few months that I feel define different aspects of Padovan life. These two elements join to form my research project, which I am doing for the Office of International Programs in exchange for the Padova Program Scholarship.

After my semester here, I'm going to give my prints and the url of this blog to International Programs in the hope that they will encourage other students to participate in the Padova program in the future.

Benvenuti a tutti! E ciao per adesso!