melissa grace kreider

The time has come to tackle the subject of sQuola! In relation to Palazzi (my host school), sQuola is the Center for Contemporary Italian Studies. Or to me, where I take my Italian Language class. When you take Itailan through Palazzi, it is not just a normal language course. Included are Service Learning and Conversation Exchange components. 

For beginner classes like mine, 15 hours of Service Learning, or what can best be decribed as Community Service are mandatory for completion by each student every semester. For intermediate and advanced level classes, students are assigned a partner and instructed to meet with them every once in awhile to help their Italian partner learn English, and to practice their own Italian!

Daunting, no? The greatest part about the Service Learning Component is that sQuola works with you to choose an organization that you are genuinely interested in for your 15 hours of work. Students meet and listen to a short presentation given by their top three choices of organizations from the Italian community, make their final decision, and finally schedule their hours accordingly. Organizations range from volunteering in soup kitchens, working with the elderly, lending a hand in ambulances or helping promote animal rights. I, of course, chose to dedicate my time to promoting animal rights and visiting dog and cat shelters. A perfect match for me.

Today was my first day of volunteer work. Nervous, I spent last night going over my Italian notes and worrying about not being able to communicate; being unable to get your point across is hard. Thankfully, my first three hours of service went wonderfully. The organization, LIDA, set up in a pet store and was accepting donations for food to feed the dogs and cats they help house at various shelters in Florence. 

"Vuole fare uno offerta per cani o gati per la L.I.D.A.?" (or "Would you like to make a donation for dogs and cats for L.I.D.A.?") is the sentence I had to memorize, and all went well. We got a lot of donations and food for the animals that are currently homeless.

I was surprised that I was able to understand almost everything that was said to and around me; I just can't really answer yet! I've got a long way to go, but volunteering is honestly the best way I could hope to learn a language. Sometimes you have to be thrown into something in order to adapt. I am excited for whatever is to come next week from my service learning.

What sQuola is doing within the Italian community and with their students is rather lovely, in my opinion. They are taking their American students and giving them a key to learn the language, interact with the community, learn cultural customs and give something back at the same time. As with the rest of my classes at Palazzi, I'm actually getting the chance to apply the skills I learn in the classroom, Italian style. I am so grateful for these oppurtunities and continue to have to remind myself that this is actually my life right now.

Oh, and it could be yours too. Did I mention that you should study abroad? No? Well you should.

Ciao for now!

-m.

Interested in Palazzi? View their website  here.