Pre-Departure Reflection
My name is Amelia Kuskin, I am 15 years old, and this is my second time of having the privilege of participating in the Abbey Road Programs. I am very excited to have been chosen to be a Student Ambassador and I am also really looking forward to sharing my experiences with my friends and family, as well as those I will meet on my upcoming trip. Last summer I participated in the Nice summer program with Abbey Road, and I really didn’t know what to expect. Being a summer camp kid for the majority of my life I was prepared for the separation from my family, but I had no idea what by own feelings would be while actually on the trip. I feel that because of my experiences last summer, I can better illustrate what I hope to gain on the Western Civilization Program this year.
During this summer I am probably most looking forward to going to Italy. It works out nicely that we are spending two weeks there, in Florence and Rome, rather than one. I have never been to Italy before and I would really love to round out my European experience. I am really looking forward to really getting to try authentic food of all the different places I will be going this summer. I firmly believe that food is a major part of culture and if I am going to invest in learning about these western civilizations, I retain the right to gorge myself as much as possible. More seriously however, I am really hoping that this trip improves my knowledge of history and helps me further understand how civilizations really work. History is one of my favorite subjects in school, which is part of the reason why I chose this program, and I think that if I can understand these great civilizations then I can understand current events more clearly, as well as all civilizations’ separate cultures.
What I am mainly looking forward to are all the fun experiences I am going to have while on this trip including, learning about the places we visit, eating amazing food, and overall having a good time with the new people I meet. I hope that everyone will enjoy the blog I will be posting during the course of the program, and I sincerely hope I have as much fun as I am expecting to!
