Ciao!

Ciao! I'm Lauren Udit, a 16 year old American who is about to be living the dream in Nova Siri, Italy. Some of you may be wondering how a teenage girl could get this amazing opportunity. Well one day during school we had a presentation in class about studying abroad through the organization AFS and about possible scholarships we could receive. When I was looking at the countries that I could travel to, three immediately stood out: Ghana, New Zealand, and Italy. My sophomore year of high school had so far been disappointment after disappointment. My friends had changed, my classes were harder, and like every teenage girl I was moody and tired. "This is it." I thought as I scrolled through the AFS website later that night. "This is how I can escape the hell that is high school." Don't get me wrong there are some parts of Cedar Cliff (my school) that I really like, like managing the boys basketball team, football games on chill October nights, and my friends. But something was always missing. So after bugging my parents for days they decided to let me try to get a scholarship to go abroad. To go to Italy for a year the tuition was around $14,000! There was no way my parents and I could afford that. Thankfully in my area they offered the Speedwell scholarship, which would pay for 100% of my tuition. I wouldn't be able to do this with out them! The only draw back is that I had to go to a non English speaking country, so no Ghana or New Zealand. But is living in Italy ever a drawback? No!

So here's a little information on Nova Siri. Its along the Southern coast of Italy in the Basilicata region! I'll be living in Nova Siri Marina and not the actual town of Nova Siri. It looks beautiful and I cant wait to go. I leave for New York in 13 days and go to Italy the next day! Its so insane that in only 14 days I'll be living in a different country. Its going to be the best year of my life and I'd love for you to join me. :) Grazie, and stay tuned!