Hi readers! I’m really excited to share my experiences with you as I study abroad for a semester in Florence, Italy! But first, you may want to know a little about me: My name is Lawrence Weathers, and I’m a junior at Penn State studying business management. I’m from Media, PA, which is about 15 minutes southwest of Philadelphia. I absolutely love Penn State and enjoy giving back to our great university through Lion Ambassadors (you may see us giving tours everyday or running events such as Be A Part From the Start, Lantern Tours, and Old Main Open House). In my (not-so-abundant) spare time, I also enjoy filming and editing short videos, and I hope to film a lot while in Florence and share them here, so be sure to check-in often!

I’ve always known I wanted to study abroad, but I didn’t give much thought as to where until last year when it was time to apply. After talking to my study abroad advisor, I decided that between my interest and what I wanted to get out of my experience, taking international business and art history courses at the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai in Florence was the place for me, and I’ve been excited to go ever since. My excitement has grown with nearly every person I’ve talked to who has been to Florence, with people describing it as “the most beautiful city in the world,” and telling me it will be “absolutely amazing.” When I found out my neighbor had studied abroad in Florence last spring, I asked her what she thought of it. She literally didn’t even have words to describe her experience; she just got really excited and kept saying how much she misses the city. And just look at it, how can you not miss a city this beautiful:

To be honest though, as excited as I am to go, with the fall semester winding down, I’m realizing just how much I’m going to miss Penn State, all my friends, and everything going on here (like THON). I am also a bit nervous because I don’t know a word of Italian. However, I know that once I get home for winter break and get closer to my departure date (January 9th!), those feelings will dwindle as my excitement builds. I truly cannot wait for what I’m sure will be the experience of a lifetime, and I barely know what to expect; all I know is this is going to be an exciting adventure and I can’t wait to share it with you through this blog!

Also, a sidenote: 9 out of 10 people who I tell that I’m going to Florence respond with “Lawrence in Florence! Haha! Did you plan that?!” While I obviously had better reasons for choosing to study in Florence than the simple fact that it rhymes with my name, I admit that it does have a nice ring to it, so feel free to use that term.

Location: State College, Pennsylvania