“Pathways: The Influence of Ancient Art on Contemporary Art” in Siena, Italy

Name: Nikol Marchenko

Type of Project: Education Abroad

1.My STEP Signature Project entailed traveling to Siena, Italy as part of the Education Abroad program “Pathways: The Influence of Ancient Art on Contemporary Art.” As part of the program, I learned about ancient and contemporary art, completed projects related to covered subject areas, learned about Italian culture, and interacted with locals.

2.While completing my STEP signature project, I was able to undergo a transformation that involved understanding myself significantly better. I realized that I am a very independent person, I prefer to take on a leadership role in a group of people, and I am more of an extrovert than I thought. I also learned that I can be very flexible in many areas, from things as simple as the type of food I eat to the lifestyle that I live; I can adapt to new ways of living and take on a different cultural mindset when need be. Furthermore, my view of the world changed significantly in that I no longer see the world in a binary fashion. Before, I had the tendency of understanding the world as having my culture and then everything else as foreign and unfamiliar. Now that I have learned and experienced Italian culture, I understand that not everything can fit into a binary; there is a great deal of gray area, and now I see the world as having my culture, cultures that I am familiar with, cultures that overlap with my culture, cultures that I know little about, cultures that I am very unfamiliar with, etc. This has also helped take my cultural awareness and communication skills to a whole new level. The same can be applied for my view of my discipline (biology) and all other disciplines. Additionally, I strengthened my passion for learning about world cultures and living a minimalist lifestyle. I was able to travel abroad and explore Italy and converse with locals with very few items with me (I packed only a carry-on suitcase and a backpack for the whole trip) and I greatly enjoyed the freedom this gave me, for this made exploring Italian culture much easier.

3.Events that took place that led to my transformation described above include interaction with locals and taking on an Italian lifestyle. For example, Italian culture (in Siena) is centered around the main city square, where people often gather for events and on a daily basis as part of their evening stroll (la passeggiata). My peers and I also soon picked up this habit, and in general began to spend more time outside in the evenings and eat dinner much later in the evening, as it is accepted in Italy. Following an Italian daily schedule enabled us to interact with locals more now that we attended more local events. Consequently, we met local university students our age that told us about Sienese culture, university culture in Italy, contrada (neighborhood) culture in Siena, and local events. This facilitated the transformation of my world view because a culture that used to be foreign for me became very familiar. As a result of this, I learned that I can easily adapt to new cultures and lifestyles.

In addition, I had to learn how to navigate around new cities, in which all instruction was in a foreign language. Moreover, getting lost was a common problem that I ran into, and it taught me to be calm and collected no matter the situation, allowing me to learn how to problem solve, seek proper resources, and communicate effectively. Also, during the program I was solely responsible for my well-being, meals, and daily chores which significantly bolstered my independence because I learned how to deal with this accordingly. Thus, these experiences also added to the development of my flexibility, adaptability, and maturation.

Furthermore, the program was focused around art, which is a field of study that I have great appreciation for but had little experience with. Being immersed in this discipline opened up a whole new perspective of looking at the world. Specifically, I became very intrigued by the concepts of mapping and ritual, which are two topics that class discussions and projects focused on. As a result of this, I significantly improved my creativity and artistic skills, bolstering my problem-solving skills and reducing my binary tendencies even more so. Additionally, I got to learn an immense amount about art history through hands-on experiences at museums, gallery visits etc. which cemented my understanding of the arts and reinforced the broadening of my scholarly perspective.

4.The transformation that occurred as a result of my STEP Signature Project is valuable for my future plans and career goals because the skills I learned are crucial for the career that I want to pursue. I plan on attending medical school and pursuing a career in the medical field. Medical professionals encounter colleagues, patients, scientists etc. of all different backgrounds and in different and high-stress situations. To productively administer medical care and be a successful medical professional, one needs to have a great sense of cultural awareness, effective communication skills, and unsurpassable flexibility. All of these skills I was able to outstandingly develop and improve during and as a result of my STEP Signature Project, preparing me for my future career better than any other experience could.

Siena, Italy