The Center for Italian Culture (CIC) at Fitchburg State University celebrated more than 20 years of supporting scholarships and programming with a fundraising gala at the Fitchburg Art Museum on Saturday, June 11.

The CIC, founded with a major gift by the late Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio of Fitchburg State’s Class of 1938, has been a fixture on the university campus for over 20 years. Throughout its history, the center has sponsored programs that celebrate Italian contributions to Western civilization and supported study abroad scholarships that let university students and faculty explore the wider world.

Hello! I would like to say first and foremost that it's a pleasure to be able to document and share my experiences abroad with the Fitchburg State community!

My name is Jordan Malachi, currently a junior Communications Media Film/Video student. Throughout these posts I am documenting my sophomore year of college spent studying abroad at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

The opportunity to study abroad inspired David Farland to look for someplace to explore some of his personal passions and the unique opportunity to surf for credit.

“I’m very outdoorsy,” he recalled. “I like the sun. I like nice weather. I just thought Australia was a nice fit.”

And then some. The semester the electrical engineering student spent in Queensland, Australia, was nothing less than a life-changing experience.

Fitchburg State’s storied theater program has resounded on the global stage. Since 2000, the university has taken part every three years in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. The trip typically involves more than two dozen students (with the high point being more than 30 students when the university’s production of The Laramie Project was exported).

The week-long trip involves students performing alongside theater companies from around the world. 

When I entered college, I didn’t give so much as a passing thought to studying abroad. I was far too frightened by the idea of flying and living in a foreign country for an extended period of time. When I discovered that Fitchburg State offered a summer program in Italy, the one place in the world I wanted to visit the most, I came up with a variety of fears and excuses in my head as to why I shouldn’t go. However, the only reason I needed to make my decision was that I really wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. 

Timothy Michalak attributes his interest in studying abroad in Spain to two simple factors: people and curiosity.

“My entire experience in Spain revolved around people,” he said. “Not places, buildings, or language. I have always been fascinated by people, and always strive to meet new people and understand them as wholly as I can. Because of this, the inspiration to study abroad came quite naturally. I see a world which is full of people whom I don’t know, and I actively choose to spend my life trying to meet them.”

Nick Wilson has always entertained dreams of being a history teacher, and figures a good way to learn about it is to live it. So he’s spending six months this year in the Czech Republic, studying its language, history and environment.

“Travel is something I plan to do because there’s no better way to learn than to go there, see it, and interpret it for yourself. I hope that by the time I’m 30 I will have lived on each continent.” Europe is the second continent he’s seen (after North America). “So, only five more.”