As a Nigerian Immigrant, this is not my first time out of the United States since I have been to Nigeria quite a few times but this is the first time going off by myself to a foreign country. Personally, I was excited and ready to experience a significantly different culture from those I have already experienced. Academically, I was excited to learn about wine production from one of the top wine producing countries in the world. My excitement overshadowing the limited scared emotions I was experiencing. I was mainly scared about going to a country where I literally knew nothing about the language. I have been to Yoruba, Spanish, and English speaking countries in my lifetime and I know how to communicate in each of those languages. I knew nothing in Italian and I knew that would make my experience somewhat hard. In order to put myself in a better position, I learned some common phrases and downloaded a language-learning app that allowed me to learn a few words in Italian during the last few weeks before my trip. This was my main form of preparation other than packing and making sure I had all the documents I needed for my trip.

When it came down to my parents, they were probably less scared than I was since I am a very independent person and my three years at UGA gave the confidence to know that I know what and what not do in order to keep myself and others safe.

With confidence from my parents and friends, I came into this program with open eyes, which the most important thing one can do when it comes to new experiences.