Home to rolling hills of olive trees, citrus-colored villas and a sprinkling of statues from antiquity, the NYU Florence campus makes an impression from the first sight. In less than 12 hours of being on the campus, I was taken by how undeniably Italian it was. I had this preconception it’d be an American college campus contrasting its Italian surroundings, but that was quickly disproved.

Following an unsteady morning shuttle ride from the airport to campus, we were first met by a quintessentially Tuscan scenery and the murmurs of unintelligible conversations between the NYU Florence staff members. After driving through the campus, we arrived at the front steps of Villa Natalia, one of the dorms on the campus. Despite the masses of luggage in front of the building, a certain renaissance charm seeped through the facade, a building dating back to the 16th century.