By: Hannah Wiley, Assistant Features Editor
If you’ve been hearing stories about Italy around campus since we got back from spring break, I’m here to tell you all about it and why you should take Travel Photography next spring! Travel Photography (FAS 142) is a class that runs every spring, led by Professor Tom Wolf. The first part of the semester is spent learning how to use cameras, basic photography techniques and how to edit your photos. However, that’s not the fun part. Over spring break the class goes to Italy and spends 10 days traveling throughout southern Italy; this year, the class spent their time split between Naples, Procida and Ischia, but every year it varies slightly.
Not only do you get to spend 10 days in the beautiful south of Italy exploring and learning the culture, but you also get unique experiences that you can’t find anywhere else, rather than the typical tourist itinerary. At one point we stumbled upon the opportunity to hang out with a group of Italian teenagers on Easter break. Those few hours talking on the beach with them are ones that will stick with me forever. Even at times when we couldn’t really understand what the other was saying, the laughs and the welcoming nature that they gave off were unlike anything else. We chatted about the differences in our cultures in a very relaxed and organic way, and I think that this was an experience that not too many other people will be able to have. (Not to mention they gave us the best tiramisu and chocolate cake I have ever had.)
On our final day, we were welcomed into the beautiful home of a woman named Lina, who made us a meal from scratch. Let’s just say I had the best lasagna of my life there, so, thank you, Lina. Then, her son showed us around the town and it was like something out of a fairytale…not an exaggeration. You just had to be there.
Immersing ourselves in the culture quickly became our favorite thing to do. The way life is in Italy could not be more different than in the United States. From the way they dress to when they eat dinner, everything is more extravagant in the best way. Everywhere you walk, people are dressed to the nines… and that’s their casual wear. They eat dinner late at night (around 8 or 9 p.m.), and rarely will you see them drinking water during a meal, because they ALWAYS have a glass of wine.
Other than the memories you’ll make, the best part is that it’s a photography class, so you come home with thousands of photos to remember this life-changing trip. And trust me when I say it was life-changing, because it was. Being my first time out of North America, I was absolutely terrified, and after I came home I made a trip to look into studying abroad before I graduate. I used to be the girl who said she would never study abroad because I was too scared, and now I can’t get the idea out of my head.
I have none other than Maddy Lockwood to thank for this experience which has quickly become one of my favorite college memories. If she hadn’t convinced me to take the class, I would’ve missed out on this amazingly unique trip. I also had the opportunity to go with some of my closest friends, and I wouldn’t have wanted to share those memories with anyone else. So, if you even have a little interest in taking FAS 142… do it.