I have learned the most about who I am in my last four months in Florence.  I learned more about what I want from life, and how I hope to live. I have reflected a lot on my last four years of college, and how higher education has helped me grown into an adult. I have only just begun to imagine what life has in store for me in the future.  Lastly  I have learned to soak up every beautiful moment life throws at you.  I will cherish every life lesson learned in florence.

Life in Florence is vastly different from my life in the states. Italians are more active, they are conscious of their waste, and they value their free time.  I never realized some of the daily aspects of life that bother me in the states until I lived in Italy. The states has a very wasteful attitude, and there is a constant need to work to make money that you have no time to spend.  I have learned that I want to start being more mindful, mindful of my waste, and of the time I am giving myself to enjoy life.  I get so caught up with working two jobs, before I Know it life will have passed me by.  I have come back to the states and started making these changes in my lifestyle.

My semester in Florence was my last semester of my undergrad degree. I have reflected on my time I college, and how much I have grown as a person. As a freshman in College I would have never imagined spending my last semester in Europe.  I have transformed from an 18 year old who knew everything, into a reliable adult with her first apartment and full time job. I will not only remember all the amazing memories from Florence, but I will remember my time in Florence as the last experiences of college. Now that I have finished college there are so many possibilites for my future.  I have started in my first post-grad position, gotten my first apartment. My love for Italy has inspired me to consider graduate programs abroad. I can see myself living in europe for a couple more years,  I am still soo young and have the world at my feet. I have already done soo much at the age of twenty two, now I can do anything. I cannot begin to describe the accomplishment I feel looking back at all of my travels in just four short years in college.

There are so many moments in europe where I just wanted to freeze time and soak everything in. It is a blessing and a curse knowing you only have a small amount of time in such a beautiful place.  You know you need to enjoy every last minute of it before it is gone. I have really learned to embrace living life in the now, and enjoying all of life’s  blessings. Now that I am back in the states looking back on my memories, I wish I would have gazed on those incredible views just a few seconds longer, or taken that picture. You never really know what you have right in front of you until you have left it behind. I cant wait for the day that I can show my loved ones the country I fell in love with.

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Sarah is a current student at Western Michigan University studying at Florence University of the Arts (FUA) in Florence, Italy during the Spring 2015 term.