Intense learning, intense emotions. January 20, 2022

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

This program academic rigor was very intense we would have classes from 6-8 hours 5 days a week. I learned a lot about physical theatre and improved my confidence in devising and following my impulses. The school was on top of a hill a 20 minutes walk outside of the small Tuscan town, Arezzo. It was beautiful but we were isolated from other people and other theatre, which exacerbated my isolation being the only person of color and not having community or support in that aspect at all.

On-site administration of your program

The administration was not very supportive in helping me get support being the only person of color in my school. After I talked to the program coordinator about how I was suffering she offered me solutions but was slow to act on them, the admin organized a diversity equity inclusion "training" session on racism as a solution but it was optional and there was no plan, the admin was all white and didn't hire a professional and we just had a 2.5 hour discussion trying to explain why critical race theory is not racist and on the contrary very important to teach, and was particularly draining for me being the only POC and I ended up teaching the admin about microaggressions, the model minority myth, multi-dimensional models of racial identity, and more, while I learned nothing about anti-racism but I did learn about the extent that white fragility extends. The admin also asked me to help make their application process more racially inclusive with no compensation.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My living arrangement was nice, but I wish the rooms were more modernized and that we had access to a stove/oven, we only had a microwave and a toaster that broke. I bought a rice cooker and donated it to the school.

The food was pretty bland most of the time and very oily, but I guess it's typical of college dorm food.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Or school had no integration programs or opportunities with any other schools or local community. All that we had to seek out on our own time which we had very little of, but even then I was able to make local Italian friends and learn a good amount of Italian language and culture. Italians thought that I was Italian (not ethnically but in Nationality), I think because my pronunciation of Italian was very good and my style matched that of every 15 year old Italian boy.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Health care was difficult because I needed doctors that could speak English. Several times healthcare workers refused to help me because they didn't want to attempt to communicate with me, even though I had google translate open and was trying my best. My program assisted me in finding a gynocologist which was nice, and he could speak English well and was happy to assist me. I had to pay more than I am used to paying because I didn't have health insurance in Italy. One doctor said "Ni hao" to me upon first meeting me because I'm Asian, and I simply said "I'm not Chinese." I had to pay for a therapist because of all of the stress my program and peers were causing for me which was very expensive. This therapist was recommended to me by my host school and my therapist was very unprofessional, vaping throughout the whole session, called me "hot and exotic", late for sessions, called me several racial slurs, misgendered me in every session, invalidated my feelings, committed almost every microaggression there is, and talked so much that we would have to double sessions everytime I saw her, which is not normal for me as I have been going to therapy for years. At my home institution I am used to having several therapists to choose from through the school, paid for by the school, and having affinity, heritage, and culture clubs for support, and 50% POC population, so communities and different forms of support are easily accessible. In addition I have advisors and Academic success coaches so I feel supported in every sense.

I felt unsafe in Italy because of the blatant homophobia I witnessed and experienced on the streets, I also experienced racist harassment and transphobia on the streets and people trying to scam me and my American colleagues. I got used to having to defend myself by yelling at people on the streets for harassing me and stopping fights between my friend and Italian men because she defended herself from harassment from Italian men. The gender binary and gender roles are strongly enforced in Italy so I would advise future students to be aware of this and also be aware fo common scams and don't talk to any stranger, especially if you are a marginalized gender. You will find other people to be safe around and stick with them. I don't have much advice more than this. It's hard to be trans in Italy.

The program taught me a lot and grew my confidence in theatre and in other aspects of my life, but I was in the worst mental state of my life and my program did not value mental health and did not know how to support POC students. Also they had a class called "Experimental Lab" where there were no boundaries, the only rule was "don't kill anyone". Even if we are encouraged to not have boundaries and that is the rule of the space, people still have personal boundaries and unfortunately people with more abusive tendencies will take advantage of that and use it as an opportunity to violate people.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

The therapist recommended by the school cost me over $140 a week and I had other expenses as well.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

It was neutral, we were encouraged to use it in Italian class of course but outside of that we were never encouraged or discouraged, we weren't given much time outside of classes and meeting locals anyway

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• Dorm

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• Americans

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• Americans

• Classes (Storytelling, Clown, Lecoq)
• Getting to travel around the EU

• Experimental labs
• More attention to mental health
• More resources for POC

The Academic or Linguist