News and Blog – Page 2 – DEV – The Umbra Institute – Study Abroad in Italy

This Spring Semester of 2023, the Umbra Institute has had the pleasure not only of welcoming many new students in our beautiful city of Perugia, but also students who have already experienced our study abroad program and eagerly decided to come back for another semester. In this first part of the “Coming back to Perugia” series, we’ll be sharing the words and thoughts of 2 students, Kenna Haverkamp and Bailey Schiering, who joined our General studies Program last semester. We asked them directly why they chose to come back to Perugia and what their point of view on the Umbra study abroad experience is, and this is what they had to say:

Kenna Haverkamp (University of Colorado, Boulder): Ever since I signed up to study abroad at Umbra last year I knew that I would want to stay for two semesters. And while I may have made the decision to stay before arriving here, I am more and more grateful that I did every day. Reflecting back to last semester, I don’t think that I truly realized how comfortable I felt in Perugia until just before we were leaving. Maybe because of the size of the city and the generosity and kindness of the locals, or the beauty that lies in every side street and alleyway in the city center, Perugia is one of those places that quickly becomes a second home. To feel at home in a place that is so different from where I grew up is truly a rewarding and exciting feeling.

Bailey traveling with other Umbra students

Bailey Schering (Clark University) says: When I came to Umbra during the fall I had no idea it would become my new home. Before this, I had never traveled alone before, especially not to an entirely different country. I was definitely scared, nervous, and wildly out of my comfort zone, but when I got off the plane, I was met by amazing Umbra staff who told me everything I needed to know and introduced me to my new friends. From there, it became easier and easier to take the next steps. Umbra staff hosted events that helped us meet new friends, they brought us on trips to explore Italy, and they were there every step of the way, asking “ciao, how can I help?”. The students, my new friends for life, were all just out of their comfort zones as me, and we easily found things to bond over. I decided one month into my stay that I needed to return to Umbra Institute, as it started to feel more like home than Massachusetts did.

On making friends while in Perugia, Kenna also says: “…the friends that I met while at Umbra have been one of the best parts of my study abroad experience. I met truly amazing people who I became closer to than I ever imagined I would. While it was difficult to part ways with them at the end of the semester and to watch many of them return to their respective lives, coming back to Perugia itself for the second semester felt like coming home to an old friend- and if I could do it a thousand times over I would.”

As for the city of Perugia, Bailey states: “The views just steps away from the school are jaw-dropping, and the small city of Perugia feels welcoming and inviting. The classes here are interactive, between making pottery and creating my very own bread, I feel engaged and eager to learn. The location is authentic, yet easy to navigate and I can’t imagine a better place to spend my junior year. I strongly encourage anyone and everyone to give Perugia a try … you’re destined to fall in love with it the way I have.”

Kenna says about the city: “Because of its relatively small size, you may think of life in the center of Perugia as quiet and uneventful. This is far from the truth- the city has a vibrant and dynamic feel to it, and I was never at a loss for new places to explore or new things to try. That being said, I found that what I missed most during the semester break was my routine of frequenting the local spots that I love and have become familiar with, and the slower pace of life that the city encourages you to take on.”

On another interesting and important aspect such as traveling, Kenna also states: “Other aspects to studying abroad at Umbra that have made my experience here so rewarding are the friends that I made and the opportunities to travel to new and exciting places. The travel that I have done while abroad has been some of the most fulfilling and valuable experiences that I have ever had, and I have been able to travel to places that I both never expected to find myself or always dreamed of visiting. I am so thankful to have another semester to experience more opportunities like these.”

Thank you Kenna and Bailey for sharing your thoughts on your study abroad experience here! If you enjoyed this topic, stay tuned for more in the upcoming weeks with Part 2 and check our website at: https://www.umbra.org/blog/

By Emma Goldstein, University of Denver

My name is Emma Goldstein, I attended the Umbra Institute and played on the CUS soccer team. CUS stands for “Centro Universitario Sportivo” and it’s the sports center of the Universities of Perugia. Umbra has been partnering with CUS in the last couple of years in order to give its students opportunities to continue practicing a sport they enjoy or to explore new sports but at the same time to get closer to the community in Perugia while abroad.

Playing on the soccer team gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in the Italian culture. It gave me the chance to get to know the community members of Perugia. The ages ranged from 16-23 years old and the skill level is a wide range. There are about 2 practices a week and a game every weekend. I instantly felt loved and welcomed the minute I stepped onto that field. I will never forget the friends I made through this team, I am thankful to have had this opportunity.

I wanted to thank Umbra so much for setting me up with the Perugia soccer team. My abroad experience has been wonderful but I definitely did struggle to make friends. This team has been my best social experience in Perugia. The team was not originally being offered until I asked, and I just wanted to let Umbra know that this was my experience and it would be nice if it were offered to other students in the future! The coach and players were so welcoming and I would highly suggest this to someone else.

In the Spring Semester of 2023, Umbra is indeed offering the chance to join the CUS soccer team, as well as volleyball, and basketball for the men’s team, and many more gym activities such as pilates, calisthenics, and step aerobics.

If you are interested in any of these activities, contact Alexandra at [email protected]

On December 13th, professor Viviana Lorenzo and the students from her “Green Cities: A Sustainable Future” class invited Umbra faculty, staff, and students to visit the Orto Sole didactic urban garden and see all the amazing projects her class has been working hard on during the Fall 22 Semester.

Until recently, the urban garden known as “Orto Sole” (pronounced “orto-so-lay”) was a mostly forgotten steep agricultural plot on Perugia’s north-facing hillside. Several years ago a non-profit association was created to re-develop this area as an urban garden: its members rebuilt the garden’s terraces, pruned the grape vines and aging fruit trees, and started hosting community groups in the beautiful green space just below the city’s most famous panorama – Porta Sole.

In September 2021, the Umbra Institute assumed management of Orto Sole to revitalize the garden and develop it as a living laboratory for the Institute’s Food, Sustainability and Environment program. The Institute will use the green urban hillside as its “outdoor classroom”: continuing the garden’s use as a didactic space, exploring new agricultural technologies, and sponsoring community-engaged learning projects with local partners.

After much work done during the Fall Semester of 2022, The hopes and expectations of Green Cities’ students are that Orto Sole will not only become a community garden and a place that contributes to the beautification of Perugia, but first and foremost that it may slowly grow into a space dedicated to sustainable agriculture, starting with the use of recycled material only.

Some of their projects for example involved the creation of Hugekultur, layered mounds of decaying wood debris and other compostable biomass and plant materials, left to break down in time into a nutrient-rich raised bed. Another project of agricultural value was surely the Worm Towers, structures where worms will gather and consume the organic compost inside, and will then spread in the garden and fertilize the soil.

As for community value projects, we have some beautiful ones too! From spots and benches where you can sit and enjoy some tea, to wooden and ceramic boards all around, up to the embellished stair area with lights and candles, all culminating with the significant Gratitude Tree! This project was inspired by Orti Dipinti in Florence, and students wanted to recreate it here together and hang up gratitude notes, either for their hard work or for their study abroad experience and the friends they made here, given that, as student Shreya affirmed, “people make places.”

Student Jenna Bryant said as well: “Orto Sole was and forever will be my favorite place to be in Perugia. A lush green food forest in the heart of Perugia, overlooking the green rolling hills of Umbria, was always a place that made me feel at peace during the past 4 months abroad and I can’t imagine my time without it. I always enjoyed volunteering weekly in the orto and getting my hands in the soil, even if it meant being covered in mud and dirt for my next class. I am really proud of what we accomplished as a class this fall semester in Green Cities. I feel like we really made all of our goals and ideas come to life, and it is great to see that we have left a permanent physical mark on Orto Sole.”

Needless to say, we are proud of the work that has been put into the Orto, and both as Umbra body and as part of the bigger Perugian community, we hope more will continue to be done in the future!

To learn more about Umbra’s Community Engagement programs and activities, check out our website at: www.umbra.org/community-engagement-abroad/.

By Angelie Roche, St. Mary’s College of Maryland

Of all the fears I’ve overcome while studying abroad, I never expected to overcome my fear of teenagers. I love to teach and have a lot of experience with young children, but the idea of entering a classroom of fifteen-year-olds filled me with dread. I was always afraid that they might judge or disrespect me, especially since I’m not much older than them myself. So, when I decided to volunteer as an English tutor at an Italian high school, I was deliberately stepping out of my comfort zone. Not only was I going to teach a 45-minute lesson to a group of teenagers, but I would have to navigate a language barrier in a school system that was completely unfamiliar to me.

Entering the classroom felt like being a celebrity. All twenty of the students were clustered in the front, enthusiastically shouting “good morning!” Throughout my presentation, there was never a moment when they were completely silent, but it wasn’t a disrespectful sort of chatter – it was as if they could not help but voice their thoughts out loud. It was clear they needed more action: I was given the freedom to teach them whatever I wanted, so why not create a lesson that allowed them to actively participate throughout?

During my next visit, I made my lesson a lot less lecture-centric. I allotted much of class time to answering students’ questions about American culture– they had so many! They were curious about school sports teams, the price of college, and the American education system. As soon as I discarded my presuppositions about what English tutoring should look like, I was able to provide the students with what they really needed – a discussion. Weaving through the hundreds of Italian students on their way out, I was smiling– I had gotten a class of teenagers to not only listen but to engage and have fun. Though I wasn’t “tutoring” in the traditional sense, the students were still being challenged to ask questions in English and think deeply about the cultural differences between our two countries.

Meanwhile, my Human Development in Culture class was preparing our Service Learning project: designing a creativity-based English lesson for middle school students. At first, the task seemed daunting; how were we to know what would engage a bunch of 10 to 13-year-olds, or even what amount of English they would understand? But after spending time in the high school, I felt more confident, volunteering to be the “instructor” in the classroom I was placed in.

Despite my preparedness, though, when I saw I was with the oldest age – 13-year-olds – I again began to doubt myself. We had pictured younger middle-schoolers when designing our lesson. The task was to have them draw monsters using characteristics they had written in English, and then write a story about their monsters together. When I walked into the class, I was met by 20 teenage eyes, and silence – unlike in the high school, these students gave me their full attention, which was almost more nerve-wracking. They were shy at first, looking around at their classmates’ work before beginning to draw. I remembered being thirteen myself and wondered if a monster-drawing activity would be “uncool” to me. Standing in front of the classroom, I suddenly felt small– what if it didn’t work out? What if this wasn’t what the students needed?

But, to my surprise, the classroom soon transformed from awkward silence to a chattering, lively discussion. Students spent a long time designing and coloring their precious monsters, and even longer constructing detailed stories. After the first brave group shared, hands began shooting up; everyone was excited to show off their monsters. Just as I did in the high school, my classmates and I had to tweak our planned lesson to meet the students’ needs; some steps took longer than others, and we completely changed the “sharing” portion at the end so that groups could show their monsters to the whole class. But my favorite part was seeing smiles on the 13-year-olds’ faces and realizing they had fun doing our silly monster activity.

When I said goodbye to my noisy, chattery group of Italian high schoolers during my last week of the program, I felt a mixture of sadness and accomplishment; I knew I’d miss them. At the end of the class, the teacher told me that one of the students– the “class clown” who always bombarded me with silly questions– had actually been too nervous to speak in English before I came. My experiences have given me not only a renewed confidence in my ability to command a group of older students but a heightened cultural awareness. Every group needs something different: some, like my high school class, need more engagement; others, like the 13-year-olds, just need an extra push to be creative. I also learned that a language barrier is nothing to fear, but that it’s important to consider how and what you are communicating to students.

As a Psychology major and an Education minor, the opportunities I’ve had here at Umbra have helped me grow by leaps and bounds. I stepped outside of my comfort zone this semester, and could not be more grateful for where it has taken me.

To learn more about Umbra’s Community Engagement activities, check out their website at: https://www.umbra.org/community-engagement-abroad/.

By Shreya Dhume, University of Connecticut

On November 11th, students of Digital Marketing: Wine and Wineries of Central Italy took an early morning bus to Torgiano to learn about the history behind one of Italy’s most renowned wineries: Cantine Lungarotti.

This semester, students have been exploring digital marketing principles and applying them to the Italian wine industry. We have examined different tactics marketers use to promote their products and brands, and will even be participating in a service learning project in which we create a marketing plan for Romanelli, a winery we visited in September. Students were pleased to find that Lungarotti provided an opportunity to delve further into these marketing concepts.

First, we received some insight into the winery’s origins. Lungarotti is a local, family-owned winery that was founded in 1962 by Giorgio Lungarotti. The company prides itself on its commitment to quality production, sustainability, and family values.

Students were led inside the winery to see the different stages of the winemaking process. The first room contained tall steel tanks where the wine fermented, and in another room, we saw different size barrels where the wine was kept for aging. There also was a cellar where bottles of wine were tucked away for yeast fermentation. The most notable part about our tour was that, beyond seeing the steps of wine production, we also witnessed packaging and labeling–student Emily Simeone said this was her favorite part about the visit.

Next, students heard from Francesco Zaganelli, export director for Lungarotti. Francesco elaborated on the company’s consumer markets: Lungarotti has been able to penetrate new worldwide markets in the last few years, including the United States, Germany, Sweden, Thailand, and Canada. Professor Jacopo Cossater especially wanted students to see “how a winery manages to sell wine in the United States” and how “every state is different,” which leads to a dynamic marketing strategy. Seeing these ideas come together with a real wine company was truly eye-opening.

And of course, we ended the day with a wine tasting! Students tried the Torre di Giano white wine and classic Rubesco red wine. The white was “crisp, refreshing, and just sweet enough,” said fellow student Maddie Culkin. Brendan Fricke felt that the red had “many spices and tasted lighter than other red wines.”

Our day at Cantine Lungarotti was enlightening, as we saw classroom concepts come alive in an esteemed Umbrian winery. It was a fun day filled with touring, teaching, and tasting!

Click here to learn more about Cantine Lungarotti: https://lungarotti.it/ita/

By Angelie Roche, St. Mary’s College of Maryland

Many of the classes offered at Umbra include a service learning component, which enriches students’ education through unique community engagement opportunities. One such course is Critical Disabilities, which includes a weekly practicum wherein students go to Perugia’s community gym and assist with VIVA sports, an association that partners with professional athletic instructors to provide physical education to individuals with disabilities. VIVA was founded by Gabriele Bartolucci in 2011, and since then it has become one of the largest Italian organizations for individuals with special needs. According to Community Engagement Coordinator Manuel Barbato, the partnership between Umbra and VIVA began in 2016 and has since been a core component of the Critical Disabilities class.

Once a week, students take buses to the gym and spend three hours assisting sports instructors and participants with their activities. Student volunteers are not obligated to participate for the entire session, and are not given specific “tasks”; rather, they are invited to step in and help whenever they feel comfortable. That could mean assisting staff with dance lessons, ping pong, basketball, or even working one-on-one with a participant who looks lost or overwhelmed.

When I began going to the gym with my classmates, we were nervous – it was our first full “cultural immersion” experience, as hardly anyone spoke English and we were not exactly sure how we would fit in the chaotic, active environment. Soon enough, though, we pushed ourselves to participate. My classmate Xea Kirkland said, “[At first] I really struggled to talk with people, but the more I did it the more I got used to the uncertainty.” Since then, we’ve started to get to know the participants who come every week, and build trusting relationships with them. The language barrier is not always easy, but we’ve found nonverbal ways to communicate as well– sometimes that means demonstrating the activity yourself, or taking the initiative to go up to someone who’s sitting on the sidelines and motion for them to come join.

Physical disabilities are never seen as limitations there, and a huge part of working at VIVA is being able to see people as individuals and modifying each activity for them. If a child has a sight impairment, instructors might focus on building their other senses, encouraging them to crawl across mats or using tapping to direct their attention. Participants in wheelchairs are never separated from others; rather, instructors will find ways to modify parts of the obstacle course to ensure they can do every activity. Dance lessons are slow-paced and often change for each group, depending on the participants’ capabilities. This focus on ability rather than disability has helped reframe my mindset and build empathy between participants and instructors – everyone is equal there.

The most valuable part of the classes I’ve had here is what happens outside the classroom, especially when it involves engaging with people who are different from myself. The best sort of learning pushes students to challenge themselves, both socially and intellectually, whether that means trying to speak in a different language or learning to communicate without using language at all. Being at VIVA has brought not only a greater understanding of others, but a sense of joy and community – an ability to laugh at myself when I don’t make a basket, or cheer for someone else when they do.

By Jacqueline Inman, University of Vermont

Perugia is home to many amazing sights for visitors to see: the Etruscan Well, the National Gallery of Umbria, stores, and restaurants in the central piazzas, and panoramic views from Porta Sole. But, when you’re staying in Perugia for an extended visit, like the students at the Umbra Institute, there is room to make your Perugian experience your own, finding the best spots off the beaten path. After having spent just over two months in Perugia, these are the places I would recommend visiting if you are interested in the creative sides of Perugia.

Via della Viola

Via della Viola is a street not far from the central Piazza Novembre IV, offering an artistic side of Perugia. Funky and colorful murals line the street, along with some of the coziest bars and restaurants, such as Civico 25 and La Fame. The street is home to Perugia’s movie theater, Postmodernismo, which screens many independent films. The stylish theater doubles as a bar and hosts community arts events. Every Wednesday, they show movies in English, creating a great mid-week activity for English-speaking students. Postmodernismo is a vastly different environment from a chain AMC theater that you would find in the U.S., providing the viewer with a classy movie-watching experience. It may not sell slushies and heaping bags of popcorn, but you can get a cocktail or glass of wine to go along with your movie.

Corso Cavour

Corso Cavour is another Perugian street that took me a few weeks to happen upon. If you walk down the long stairway of Sant’Ercolano, you will end up on Corso Cavour, immediately greeted by some of the spots that I would recommend spending time in.

Paradiso 518 arts bookshop, Caffè Della Penna, and Lick Gelato are clustered near each other on Corso Cavour. Paradiso 518 is not the average bookstore but describes itself as an art bookshop and micro-gallery. It is an intriguing place to browse around, full of creative books and magazines set up to make the store an aesthetic experience. Right across from Paradiso 518 is Caffè Della Penna, a particularly cozy cafe and my favorite place to study. Della Penna has a sitting room in the back of the café with a warm ambiance like no other café I have been to in Perugia. Finally, Lick Gelato, next to Paradiso 518, is well-known in Perugia for some of the best gelato around. Lick is an artisan-style gelato and cake shop, and is a must if you enjoy fun and unique gelato flavors.

Pian di Massiano Saturday Market

If you’re interested in shopping for cheap, second-hand, or vintage clothing, the Pian di Massiano Market that occurs every Saturday is the place to go. From the Pincetto mini metro stop that is located right near the historic center of Perugia, it is a 15-minute ride down the hill to the last stop of the mini metro called Pian di Massiano.

There are a wide variety of goods sold at the market, including sandwiches, fruit, jewelry, home goods, and my favorite part – vintage clothing. Clothing stands make up most of the market, offering tables piled high with second-hand, generally high-quality items for people to sift and dig through. The clothes mostly range in price from 1 to 5 euros. The market opens at 8 am and goes until 1 pm on Saturdays, so there is plenty of time to search through the never-ending heaps of clothing.

Piazza San Francesco

Finally, when it’s a beautiful day and you’re tired from walking around the hilly town of Perugia, you can find a grassy area to lay down on a blanket in front of the beautiful Church of San Francesco al Prato. This is my favorite place to go with friends to read a book, listen to music, or just soak up the sun if it’s out. An added plus of this area is that there is functional wifi that you can connect to, making homework or studying possible from outside.

There are many more wonderful places to see in Perugia, and I am constantly discovering new ones. But, if you are looking for creative and cozy places to visit in Perugia that might not be found in your first google search, these suggestions are worth the visit.

By Angelie Roche, St. Mary’s College of Maryland

On October 11, Umbra’s Multicultural Psychology program held a workshop entitled “Can you meet me halfway?” which taught students to use their similarities and differences as “a starting point for inclusion” through cross-cultural conversations. Students in Umbra’s Multicultural Psychology program and the University of Perugia’s Psychology program split up into small groups and held guided discussions wherein they asked one another questions about their hobbies and interests, their reasons for pursuing psychology, as well as their home culture. Ultimately, they were tasked with finding five similarities and differences between group members as well as a song and an image that represented their group. In the end, everyone met back up and shared what they discussed.

This workshop was different from other Multicultural Psychology workshops because it did not include any sort of lecture; the entire class was focused on building students’ connections and fostering discussions. Students’ conversations brought together two very different cultures and helped both Italians and Americans learn more about one another. University of Perugia student Maria Mirandi shared, “I always thought that Americans were very open-minded, and this experience confirmed my impression,” and Giulia Gizzi added, “I felt at ease as if I were talking to people I already knew.” Even casual conversations about cultural differences became very lively and involved; according to Umbra student Katya Scott, students discussed everything ranging from Italian vs. American coffee (they agreed that Italian coffee was superior) to differences in schooling systems. She said, “We talked a lot about the differences between our universities, and how long it takes to get a degree. For instance, undergraduate programs in Italy typically last only 3 years, compared to 4 in America.”

Of course, one of the main difficulties groups faced was getting over the language barrier, as students’ English and Italian skills varied significantly. Antonio Casenza, another University of Perugia student, said that he was surprised by Umbra students’ friendliness; he had thought they would be “much more reserved in relation to the language barrier,” and instead found that they were extremely open-minded and willing to communicate. The students also enjoyed talking about which areas of Psychology interested them, and which fields they wanted to go into. Katya’s group shared a passion for research in clinical psychology and discussed the importance of listening in therapeutic settings.

Umbra’s Multicultural psychology program is just as much about giving students the knowledge they need to understand other cultures as it is about giving them real-world cultural immersion experiences. Conversations with Italian students are just the beginning! Some classes in the program involve volunteering in community settings; for instance, the Human Development in Culture class is centered around a service learning project wherein students design an English lesson to be taught in an Italian middle school, and Critical Disabilities works with VIVA Sports, an organization serving individuals with disabilities. So far, this program has equipped students with skills they could not have learned anywhere else and fostered unique conversations that students will likely carry with them as they pursue careers in Psychology. Speaking about the program as a whole, Katya said, “the opportunities to connect with Italian culture are exactly what I came here for.”

To learn more, check out Umbra’s Multicultural Psychology Program here.

By Haley Benbow, Harvard University

A 6:35 AM meeting time pulled the students of the Green Cities class out of bed bright and early last Friday morning. We had a train to catch. We were heading to Florence to visit Orti Dipinti, an urban garden in the middle of the city, to get a glimpse of what a community garden could become.

A chilly morning at the train station while we waited for our train to Florence.

First, some background: one of the goals of the Green Cities class is to work in Umbra’s community garden, Orto Sole. The garden is located just outside the historic Piazza IV Novembre, so there is a lot of potential for it to be a well-used green space right by the city center. As a class, we are hoping to propose projects to help the garden reach its potential as a vibrant and flourishing space for both Umbra students and citizens of Perugia. A trip to a place like Orti Dipinti, which is already well established, was very helpful in bringing back ideas and for getting inspiration as to what direction we should begin guiding Orto Sole.

The Mission of Orti Dipinti

Not just a garden, Orti Dipinti fills an important role as an educational space in Florence. The project practices urban organic horticulture and communicates how it can be applied to daily life. It has the goal of teaching people about nutrition, sustainability, new practices in agriculture, and environmental awareness. It promotes a collaborative economy and cooperation among all its stakeholders: citizens, children, students, professionals, tourists, and local farmers. More than that, it serves as a place for people to come together in a passionate and inspired way to work toward achieving greater sustainability and creating a reciprocal relationship with nature.

We were able to hear from Giacomo Salizzoni, the garden’s director, who showed us around and told us about the inspiring history and mission of Orti Dipinti. The visit was certainly that: inspiring. We left Orti Dipinti with camera rolls full of photos, long lists of ideas to bring back, and even our own personal blends of herbal tea from the extensive collection of herbs on site. The work that’s been done in Orti Dipinti over the years has taken the space from an old running track to an urban oasis complete with worm towers, a composting toilet, a zen garden, and plenty of seating for people to gather and relax.

Giacomo Salizzoni, Orti Dipinti’s director, sharing some of his knowledge with our class.

Some of my Takeaways

One of my favorite parts of our visit was listening to Giacomo speak about Orti Dipinti. We spent the first portion of our visit sitting under a plant-covered trellis in the garden’s educational space, while the second half was spent walking around while Giacomo explained all the garden’s different features. The knowledge that he had about all of the plants and other projects was very impressive; it’s clear that he has dedicated a lot of time to making it the lush and thriving space that it is today. This passion that Giacomo makes all the difference in Orti Dipinti; in looking at Orto Sole in this regard, I would love to see that same type of passion for a space fostered in the community of Perugia and in Umbra students.

I also loved the interactiveness of Orti Dipinti. As we took our tour, Giacomo encouraged us to touch, smell, and even taste as many herbs and edible plants as we wanted. It was so cool to experience a garden in this way; I tried herbs that I didn’t even know existed (ever heard of banana mint?). At the end, Giacomo handed us all tea bags to fill with our favorites so that we could take them home, dry them, and brew our own teas.

One of many garden beds full of different mint and herbs was explored by our class.

The interactive nature of our visit is also reflected in the way that Orti Dipinti works with its volunteers and the reciprocal nature of that relationship. When describing this aspect of community engagement, Giacomo told stories about how people come to him and ask if they can have a box in the garden to care for on their own. To this he replies, “No, you can’t have one box, but you can have the whole garden.” This ideology of working for the good of the whole rather than for the good of the individual is commendable, and something that I hope will be embedded into the culture of Orto Sole as well.

After having a takeaway lunch from “I Ragazzi del Sipario”, a social cooperative with the goal of employing and empowering people with intellectual disabilities through restaurant work, walking around a rose garden, and spending time wandering through the streets of Florence, we took the train back to Perugia. I was exhausted from the long day, but left feeling excited about all that we saw. It felt like the inspiration that we needed to begin working on our Green Cities class project in Orto Sole.

The Green Cities class at the end of our field trip. We took this photo in front of the rose garden that we walked through before leaving Florence.

As for Orto Sole, we are at a cornerstone in its evolution; the projects we choose to embark on matter, and will continue to matter, for years to come. Needless to say, it’s an exciting time to be involved and to be a student in the Green Cities class. Like all good things, it will take time and effort, but I believe that Orto Sole can become a thriving source of knowledge and a vibrant space for the people of Perugia and Umbra students in a similar, Orti Dipinti-esque way.

To learn more about Orti Dipinti, or even look into visiting it yourself, you can check out their website here: http://www.ortidipinti.it/en/

As a student at the Umbra Institute, I was introduced to learning through a new lens. Reading textbooks and taking tests were not part of the curriculum, because my professor understood the beneficial impact of collaboration, internal reflection and involving creative play-like aspects into the classroom. The Multicultural Psychology Program (MPP) gave me a place to challenge my socially constructed beliefs of human nature, and develop a sense of what people and especially children need to be successful, but also happy in life. This blog integrates Peter Gray’s thinking about childhood creativity and my own childhood experience to show the importance of kids needing to act like kids.

Like most young kids growing up, I too was wildly creative, or so I thought. I was in parent-child music classes before I could talk, playing the piano before I started kindergarten, and playing the cello in third grade when it was a foot taller than me. I loved playing music because it was what I was trained to do. I was good at it. It was also the only creative outlet that my parents supported. I continued to play the cello throughout middle school, I joined an honors orchestra when I went to high school and finished high school playing in the San Diego Youth Symphony. These accomplishments are accompanied by memories that I wouldn’t trade for the world, but there’s a catch. By the end of high school, I realized that I had just devoted 12 years of my life to something that I didn’t love. Somewhere between the daily practice, bi-weekly lessons, weekly rehearsals and quarterly performances, I lost the creative passion for playing music that once filled my life with joy. It is sad to say that most young adults can probably think of a passion in their life that they fell out of love with because of a build up of external factors. For me, it was the amount of pressure my family put on me to succeed, as well as the demanding and overly structured nature of my adult superiors, that eventually made playing the cello an unwanted responsibility.

Author Peter Gray in the book “Free to Learn” offers insight into how developing children in today’s society lack the freedom and adventure that older generations remember as their childhood. Gray describes one absolute truth about mental illnesses – “they correlate strongly with people’s sense of control or lack of control over their own lives.” Young people are not allowed to express their creativity in the ways that make them feel alive. I used to love playing songs from musicals and pop songs that I would hear on the radio. I would practice those for hours on end. I even joined a string quintet where all we played were songs from Disney movies. I had the most fun playing the cello in that one year than ever in my life. While I was completely content with playing fun music, this did not meet the expectations of my family, teachers and conductors; and so I played Bach, Haydn, and Dvorak. Parents and teachers today want their children to succeed so much that they feel obligated to guide these kids into specific skills and interests that will give them the tools to be great later in life. This is a great idea to an extent, because kids should not be giving up their excitement for life, to make their parents feel like they are doing the right thing.

The streets, in the eyes of parents, are getting more dangerous and the universities are unarguably getting more selective. The current response to these issues has been to replace outside play with increased use of technology, and to increase the importance of standardized test scores. It is no coincidence that kids and teens have outrageously high rates of anxiety and depression. Their childish creativity, imagination and curiosity is being sucked out of them by demanding school systems and overly eager parents, and replaced with anxiety and a lack of independence.

Gray’s theme throughout the book is that kids have inherent drives to be creative, to play, and to be independent. When those drives are supported, kids learn about the world and about themselves in ways that define their future. Now, it’s not likely that I would have been the next Yo-Yo Ma if my parents and teachers hadn’t pushed me so hard to play the cello, but because of my internal motivation and love of music, the external pressures to excel reduced my feelings of the control and freedom I had over this hobby of mine. There is a level of pressure that is helpful when trying to succeed, and some people are able to reach great success when put under immense pressure, but passion and creative enjoyment are things best developed through intrapersonal motivation.

Lauren Weber is an undergraduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder. She will graduate in 2023 with a major in psychology and minors in business and sociology. Lauren is passionate about helping those in need and plans to pursue a career in Nonprofit Management post graduation. She also loves to hike and camp, and hopes to visit all of the National Parks in the US.