After church today I went straight to LA for a welcome party hosted by two NYU alumni who have a son that is currently a sophomore at NYU. It was a lot of fun, and I got to meet a lot of NYU students that live in southern california. I ran into a fellow GSP student that lived in Florence for six months last year, and she was extremely helpful with tips and info about Italy and living over there as an American student. People I had friended on Facebook were there, so that was cool actually meeting them in person before I have to part and head off for Italy. (As if that's an unfortunate thing.) All in all, it lasted about two hours, then I went back home. A productive day, if I do say so myself. But it was a huge reminder of how little time I have left here in So cal. I'm going to miss all of you guys down here!
2 comments:
My son has been accepted into NYU GSP and is considering spending his Freshman year in Florence. How is it going for you? Are you challenged? or bored? The campus too small? Or the opportunities vast? We'd love to know.
I would highly recommend that your son consider spending his Freshman year in Florence. I personally was accepted as a GSP "Freshman year in Florence" candidate, so I really didn't have a choice. But I absolutely love it here. The campus is the largest American university campus in Florence, and is on a beautiful piece of estate, encompassing five villas donated to NYU by Harold Acton. There are 140 Freshman that live on campus, and another 350 or so upperclassmen that live downtown in apartments. The housing on campus for freshman is a little tight, but is to be expected of a college dorm.
I am far from bored...actually, I think my plate is filled to the brim, and has been ever since I first arrived in August. There are many classes offered here in Florence that aren't offered in New York, such as one of my classes I'm enrolled in this semester called the "Acton Seminar on European Union Policies and Politics." But if your son is interested in art history or politics, I would especially recommend that he come here for his Freshman year.
Travel is extremely cheap throughout Italy and Europe, and I've done a lot since I've been here. So even if he does get bored in Florence, there's endless opportunities to explore. Just as an example, yesterday in a coastal town called "Viareggio" my roommates and I went to Carnivale, a three-week celebration with floats, similar to the Rose Parade but without the flowers and seeds (they use people and stage acts on their floats instead). The trip there and back cost only 12 euro (about $16) and was a day well spent.
If you'd like more information, don't hesitate to email me at bmwlaw@gmail.com (or your son can look me up on facebook if he wants to, my NYU email is clong@nyu.edu).
Hopefully this helps! I know I had a lot of questions before I arrived that I wish I had answered beforehand, so I'd be happy to answer any questions that either you or your son may have.
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