Culture Shock: "Home"
Victoria DeSalvo
Issue date: 2/24/10 Section: Life
When I first started going to the Mount, I saw upperclassmen enjoying the days, exploring the nights and finding comfort in the oddities and intricacies of the campus. I had heard that when students attended Mount St. Mary's they found it difficult to leave the campus without feelings of nostalgia. This concept seemed foreign to me at first; I would refer to the Mount as school and only that. But after a few months of experiencing what this school had to offer, I began calling the Mount "home."
It was then that I came to a realization that the term "home" doesn't have to only describe one place. Home is a place where you grow up and feel comfortable to be who you truly are; it is a place where your surroundings express your inner spirit, and when you feel indescribably empty, it is a place where you can return to time and time again and feel complete.
This past week, my class and I traveled to Rome for three days to see the history and beauty of what this bustling city had to offer. The countless number of monuments, attractions, buildings and sculptures were overwhelming to conquer in a three day span. However, with early wake up calls at 6:45 am, we trekked through the days and navigated through as much ancient history as we possibly could.
During our trip to Rome, we paid a few visits to Vatican City, where we got a special blessing from our Pope to all students and staff of Mount St. Mary's. We toured the Vatican museum and the masterpiece that is called the Sistine Chapel.
St. Peter's Cathedral was the last stop we made on our tour of the Vatican City. The ceilings were so tall they could have interrupted the pattern of the clouds; the floors were perfectly laid out with each delicate vein of the marble lined up with the next; the gold leaf on the ceilings and walls were so delicate yet strategically executed to make the most ornate scene.
Michelangelo's Pieta was swarming with tourists snapping photos of a glass enclosed icon. I owned one of the billions of sets of eyes that vigilantly scanned every crevice and curve of the walls and ground in front of me.
Every sight I saw this past week was magnificent in its own right. Although I was astonished by the antiquity that lay in front of me, I didn't feel a connection with the attractions. It may have been the influx of tourists, or the fact that I was running on little sleep but I knew how I was feeling wasn't a normal reaction to the masterpieces of ancient Roman civilization.
I began to understand that the things I find aesthetically pleasing don't always coincide with the majority. I find beauty in the simple things like nature, the body language of two friends and the expressions on loved one's faces.
After I became conscious of this fact, I understood why Rome wasn't inspiring to me. My appreciation for Florence grew profoundly and I began to feel empty when I was away from it for too long. Upon my return, I felt at ease and whole once again. It was then that I felt it fitting to call Florence my home.
It was then that I came to a realization that the term "home" doesn't have to only describe one place. Home is a place where you grow up and feel comfortable to be who you truly are; it is a place where your surroundings express your inner spirit, and when you feel indescribably empty, it is a place where you can return to time and time again and feel complete.
This past week, my class and I traveled to Rome for three days to see the history and beauty of what this bustling city had to offer. The countless number of monuments, attractions, buildings and sculptures were overwhelming to conquer in a three day span. However, with early wake up calls at 6:45 am, we trekked through the days and navigated through as much ancient history as we possibly could.
During our trip to Rome, we paid a few visits to Vatican City, where we got a special blessing from our Pope to all students and staff of Mount St. Mary's. We toured the Vatican museum and the masterpiece that is called the Sistine Chapel.
St. Peter's Cathedral was the last stop we made on our tour of the Vatican City. The ceilings were so tall they could have interrupted the pattern of the clouds; the floors were perfectly laid out with each delicate vein of the marble lined up with the next; the gold leaf on the ceilings and walls were so delicate yet strategically executed to make the most ornate scene.
Michelangelo's Pieta was swarming with tourists snapping photos of a glass enclosed icon. I owned one of the billions of sets of eyes that vigilantly scanned every crevice and curve of the walls and ground in front of me.
Every sight I saw this past week was magnificent in its own right. Although I was astonished by the antiquity that lay in front of me, I didn't feel a connection with the attractions. It may have been the influx of tourists, or the fact that I was running on little sleep but I knew how I was feeling wasn't a normal reaction to the masterpieces of ancient Roman civilization.
I began to understand that the things I find aesthetically pleasing don't always coincide with the majority. I find beauty in the simple things like nature, the body language of two friends and the expressions on loved one's faces.
After I became conscious of this fact, I understood why Rome wasn't inspiring to me. My appreciation for Florence grew profoundly and I began to feel empty when I was away from it for too long. Upon my return, I felt at ease and whole once again. It was then that I felt it fitting to call Florence my home.
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