Reflecting on Rome…

Being in Rome was the experience of a lifetime. I loved the culture, the atmosphere, and the totally different culture. There were a lot of things that Italians did that were different from the United States but weren’t different enough that we couldn’t adjust. I really enjoyed having a big lunch and a smaller and later dinner (and of course, the daily gelato too). I loved how the city was extremely walkable, and how there were small monuments that you just happened to stumble upon. Rome was truly the most incredible place I’ve ever visited. But, one of the things I realized that I loved the most is the language. The romance languages always just roll off the tongue and sound so much more beautiful than English to me. When I was there, I always wished that I had learned more Italian before leaving, because I just used Duolingo for the bare minimum of the language. This made me realize that it may be beneficial for me to learn another language going into healthcare, likely Spanish because I already have some basic knowledge of this. While I’m not sure if my schedule would allow it at Duquesne, these are classes that I could do online. I would now like to learn Spanish to help with my future career. My dad is fluent, and it helps him a lot in his field. He is in business but can handle a much broader client base because of this knowledge. I realized that from being abroad, most, but not all, people spoke English. I figured it is the same way here in the US. People who immigrate from various countries need medical help but may not know how to express this need in a new language that they are unfamiliar with. I think that by doing this, it would be really rewarding to not only myself, but also future patients that I have that may need help.