Italy 2026. As of a few weeks ago, I can officially say that I will be studying abroad in Perugia, Italy next semester, but it took a while for us to get here. My journey started as early as last fall semester and, although not as long and complicated as college admissions, felt very similar. That’s why, when I received that rejection letter, it sure stung just the same.
The Preparing
Originally, my plan was to be one of the many who chose Florence, Italy as their home base. My roommate and I had been planning this for months. Why had we chosen Florence? Well, we wanted something big and exciting, just not as big of a city as Rome. Our one stipulation, we had to be in Italy. Florence checked off all of our boxes, and not to mention, a few of my closest friends here had planned to go there as well. Everything was falling into place, until it wasn’t. Yes, I was applying to the biggest and most competitive program at UConn, but I was sure I would get in. I mean, why wouldn’t I?
The Decision
The day of Sept. 24 I had started to become antsy. This was decision day, or what I was referring to it as, Judgement Day. As I went to bed the night before, I checked my email just to make sure they didn’t accidentally release the decisions. As I tossed and turned waiting to finally relax, I checked again because “it couldn’t hurt.” I even dreamed about logging into my phone and pulling up Outlook. Yet in my dream, the decision was still pending. The actual day of Sept. 24, I was shaky and anxiety ridden. It actually was college admissions part two. I was glued to my phone and Outlook was starting to open without me even having to click on the app. Finally, at 3 p.m., the decisions came out. I got a text from my roommate and my friend expressing they both had gotten in. My decision came about five minutes later and from the look of it, I knew it wasn’t going to be good. As I sat in my chair, in the middle of class, I feverishly loaded the message to see what it read. “However, we regret to inform you that we are unable to accommodate you in the ISI Florence program for Spring 2026 at this time.” I was crushed. It was almost like my body remembered the same waves of sadness from all of my big rejections before.
The Reeling
Still sitting in class, the notes on the cinematography of film had become a side lesson and my decision had become my main focus. I hurriedly wrote to my advisor asking for her help with my next steps. To my delight, she answered my emails almost immediately and informed me that I should place myself on the waitlist as soon as possible. I followed her recommendation, and due to my quick reaction, I found myself second overall on the waitlist. In the meantime, she let me know that if I decided to remove myself from the waitlist, I would be immediately placed into my second-choice program, Perugia, Italy. While on the waitlist, I had about a week to be taken off, and during this time my roommate stood by my side, waiting to hear my next move. Since my roommate and I went through this process with each other in mind, we of course wanted to be in the same program. Even though she had originally gotten into Florence, she had carefully waited to commit to the program in order to see where I would be going, and she would coordinate so she could go there with me.
The acceptance
After a few days, I got tired of waiting. My Outlook had become a social media app with the way I stalked it, and the topic became a sore subject for my other friends to discuss. After a while, though, my anxiety about the whole situation had died down. With the help of my family and friends, they assured me that I would have an amazing experience no matter where I went. On the eve of my (second) decision day, I ultimately chose to take myself off the waitlist, feeling like Perugia would be a better fit for me anyway. In doing this, I am so happy I took the tougher route and made this choice. Perugia is more of a college town with multiple universities that make up the city, and it’s less touristy than Florence. Due to it being a less popular destination, it has its own special hub of people from all nationalities coming together to explore a new place. Upon looking more into the program, I am glad I selected to change my result because it seems to coincide with my lifestyle more.
Even though I originally wanted to go to Florence, I believe a deciding factor in where I wanted to go to was more based on my comfortability. Florence was almost completely familiar to me, not just because one of my best friends was going there, but also because of its high tourism. I would not be able to experience authentic Italy constantly hearing English and only visiting well-known areas. Breaking away from that, Perugia was in uncontested waters, a place that I knew nothing about and knew no one going. Although this is scary in theory, the whole point of studying abroad is to get outside your comfort zone. If I went to Florence, I would have had systems in place that would have allowed me to sit idle in my comfortability. In the end, of course rejection is terrifying, it feels paralyzing in the moment, but then you pick up the pieces, and you will figure out the next steps that are right for you.