Hi, my name is Jordan Skinner and I am a Senior at CofC majoring in Communications and minoring in Arts Management. I am studying abroad in the Florence, Italy program for the Fall 2022 semester. I decided to choose this program because I have never visited Italy before, and saw this program as an opportunity to be able to further my education and immerse myself in a new culture. I am also looking forward to learning more about the history and art of Florence as it is known worldwide as the “Jewel of the Renaissance”. My goals as a student in this program is to take as many opportunities as possible to learn more about Italian culture and to step out of my comfort zone in order to learn and experience as much as I can. I also want to use my free time to travel to other cities in Italy and maybe even other countries. The research I have done so far in order to prepare for the trip is learning some basic Italian, attempting to figure out the public transportation, and  familiarizing myself with traditional Italian dishes. I am very excited for this opportunity and can’t wait to soon begin this semester abroad.