A picture of my elementary schoolers before they left for a field trip.

Starting my journey with GLC has been one of the most engaging experiences of my study abroad experience! As someone who used to volunteer all the time back at home, I was looking for a commitment here that had the same niche while giving me an opportunity to connect on a global scale. GLC not only lets me pursue my own passions going forward but also lets me meet other like-minded individuals as well. For my outreach and community service project, I specifically went with tutoring elementary and middle school classes in local Florence, a region known as Scandicci. Though I was supposed to be the one teaching English to these kids, they taught me so much in return about Italian values, traditions, and language.

A lovely drawing that one of my newer class kids gifted to me when we had an art incorporation day!

This amazing experience taught me to strengthen my communication skills but also supplemented my problem-solving and community engagement, whether I was interacting with the kids or the teachers. As someone who aims to work with children in the future, I have found this chance as a never-ending source of opportunity and am heartbroken to leave! The levels of intricacy in guiding kids through frustration while managing a different language is a challenge I had never been presented with before, and I was grateful for the chance to see it from a faculty perspective. In their eyes, I was not simply their MadreLingua- I was part of their community, and their enthusiasm made me feel at home. I am beyond thankful for the chance to apply these skills with my kids back home and will always keep this little part of Tuscany near and dear!

A board game I made for my middle schoolers who were very competitive when learning their past tense verbs in this format.

Written by: Vivian, Spring 2025 Florence student from Virginia Commonwealth University