Emma Daley

Q&A with Emma

• Where did you study abroad while a History major at WVU?
• I studied in San Gemini, in the region of Umbria. While I was there, I also had the opportunity to visit Terni, Orvieto, Assisi, Spoleto, and Perugia, as well as Fabriano, Rome, and the Vatican City.
• In what ways did you find completing study abroad useful for understanding or realizing your professional goals?
• My program’s classes were focused on book-binding and the historical preservation of books. I learned a lot about Italian history, the history of books, and preservation techniques. I got hands-on experience by making several book bindings and boxes, and I had the chance to spend time in the local archives, categorizing and cleaning books that were hundreds of years old. I also felt like I became more independent living in a country where I only knew a little bit of the language and was primarily with people around my age. Participating in this program definitely confirmed that I have an interest in historical conservation and library sciences. I also talked with people who have worked professionally in related fields and learned about their career paths. 
• How did study abroad complement your coursework in the major?
• This experience provided me the opportunity to visit museums and cathedrals with rich histories. I also was so excited to see places that I had learned about in my previous classes. For example, I learned about the St. Francis Basilica in my Medieval Europe class, then I got to visit it in person in Assisi. I even emailed my professor photos of that excursion. There were lots of instances where I was physically seeing the history that I had learned about in my classes at WVU. I also earned six credit hours for the courses I took there. 
• What did a typical day look like?
• A typical weekday consisted of classes starting around 8:00am and ending around 4:00pm with a long lunch break in the middle. Every Tuesday there was a flea market that we could go to during our break to buy food, clothes, or other little knickknacks. After classes, people would often gather in the town center for gelato, coffee, drinks or just to hang out. There were a few different restaurants in town so I got to try out a lot of local pasta, pizza, and tiramisu. There were also some events in the evenings. A local restaurant hosted live music, some local political events were hosted in the town center with music and dancing, and I got to participate in a cooking class taught by the woman who owned one of the restaurants.

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