If you've made it to my blog, either the domain name "You Cannoli Live Once" enticed you or the idea of living in Italy for four months is as appealing to you as it is to me. Either way, welcome! I'm beyond excited to begin my semester abroad, and I cannot wait to share my experiences with you via this blog. I will do my best to post regularly, but I can't guarantee that I'll limit the pictures of food that I share! With that being said, I didn't choose to study in Italy because of the pasta, wine, and gelato. So before I leave next week, I'll share a little bit about myself and why I'm studying in Italy.
My name is Sarah and I'm an Early Childhood/Special Education major at a small college in Pennsylvania. I'm minoring in International Studies and am very interested in a career in international special education; hence, my thesis is on Italy's approach to special education. Why Italy? Well, their education system is inclusive, meaning that they include children with special needs in the general education classroom, much like in the United States only more inclusively. So in addition to taking classes at the Umbra Institute, I'll be conducting interviews with people involved in the education system while I'm abroad and will be learning how Italy's approach to special education can be used as a model for other countries.
Although I'm going to Italy for research, I doubt that's why you're reading my blog, so I won't be sharing much about my research experiences here. What I will be sharing are the stories of my travels, the challenges I face both in getting to Italy and in living in a foreign country, the wonderful experiences that my semester in Perugia will provide, and of course, a lot of pictures! (And if you didn't guess from the name "You Cannoli Live Once," I adore puns, so expect some of those as well.)
Thanks for visiting my blog! Enjoy.
A presto,
Sarah
