My name is Corley Frierson and I’m a junior at College of Charleston. My major is in Communication and I currently have two English minors declared. One is Creative Writing and the other is Writing, Rhetoric, and Publications. The program I’m attending is the CofC Faculty led one in Florence, Italy. I haven’t traveled a lot, so this semester abroad is going to be an overwhelming amount of new experiences. So new that I have absolutely no idea what to expect. In terms of goals I think I’m most excited to gain a better understanding of other cultures by meeting both local and traveling people while out and about the city just chatting. Through this I hope to make new friendships with people in the program and other people that I meet. I also hope to learn how to participate in the Florence community, maybe by going to local markets or visiting cafes that are nearby regularly. Lastly I would really love to pick up some Italian words and phrases, by listening to those around me! For this trip the majority of the research I’ve done has been geographical. I’ve researched the area that I’m staying in by looking at maps and the addresses that I’m going to be around the most. I learned that my apartment is in a bustling city square right down the road from the Fiume Arno river. I also saw that the hotel where I’m going to take classes, Hotel Orto de Medici, is a few blocks away from The Duomo, which is a beautiful and popular domed cathedral in Florence! After these findings I realized that the area is pretty similar to Charleston in size, so I’m planning to move around the city mostly by walking, which is what I do back home!