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For Kimberly Ferguson ’08 (Easton, Pa.), her semester abroad in Rome, Italy, taught her more than art history and the Italian language.
“For someone who likes to have everything worked out in advance, this trip taught me that there are many times when everything cannot be planned or anticipated,” she says. “Many times we had a plan and an itinerary and then something would happen, and the whole plan would just go out the window. Then we had to wing it. This became especially challenging when our means of communicating with others and our understanding of how things in the country operated were so limited. The trip gave me some insight by helping me understand the type of person I am and how I prefer to operate, but also showed me that I can adapt when things are more chaotic than I prefer them to be.”
While studying at Temple University campus in Rome, Ferguson took courses in art history, art, and Italian.
“The way the art history courses were set up provided me with an excellent opportunity to learn about the art of Rome first-hand,” says Ferguson, a government and law major. “Each course had a classroom component once a week and a weekly ‘on-site’ meeting, where we would meet at a museum, church, or other historical site and observe what we learned about in class the day before and receive additional knowledge about what we were studying. It was a great way to see the city, learn about it in-depth, and orient ourselves with our new surroundings, especially during the first few weeks.”
Ferguson stayed in an apartment complex that hosted mostly American students. When she wasn’t acclimating herself to Roman culture, Ferguson traveled to many places in Italy, including Bologna, Venice, Lake Como, Pompeii, Lake Brancaccio, Cinque Terre, Tivoli, Florence, Sienna, Sorrento, Naples, and Milan.
“The people were very friendly everywhere we went,” says Ferguson. “Italians are generally more formal than Americans, which was very noticeable when comparing the way the Italians dressed to the American students or tourists. Despite their ability to pick us out of a crowd as Americans, people were almost always genial. They were happy with our flawed attempts to speak Italian, but they were usually more eager to show off their knowledge of the American language by speaking English back to us.”
She also traveled to Greece and Switzerland, where she had the opportunity to compare Greek and Swiss culture to Italian and American culture.
“Italy is famous for its seemingly illogical ways of doing things, from its bureaucracies to the way its streets are mapped out. Being in Italy, and then having the chance to travel to other countries which served as points of comparison, enabled me to understand how this stereotype came about,” explains Ferguson. “Yet, while things may not be done in the most efficient way possible, this really adds to the charm of the country. Concern is not with getting things done as fast as possible, as is so often the focus in the United States, but living life and enjoying it while doing so. To be able to live in such a culture, even for just four months, was a wonderful experience.”
Ferguson also learned how different cultures are connected.
“While things were different abroad, they were less so than I expect,” she says. “The influence of other countries, especially America, was evident everywhere, in advertisements, stores, and products. I also realized that many stores, brands, or other things I was familiar with, and therefore simply assumed to be ‘American,’ were really from Italy or other European nations.”
After graduation, Ferguson plans to pursue a career in law or in the U.S. government.
Ferguson served an internship with Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, at the American Enterprise Institute during a previous semester in Washington, D.C. She also served as an intern for College Republicans. She volunteers as a prison tutor through the Landis Community Outreach Center and is a member of Holla Back, a campus organization committed to creating an informed voting community.