Getting Ready

There is a few months before I leave for Italy, however I must start getting ready. One of the most important things that I need to do is get a visa. I will need a Scheun Visa as I am a student stay between 90-360 days. And the first step to being eligible is to have a plain ticket.

It is hard to know when the best time to buy is. About 6-8 weeks before departure is generally best, however there are a lot of other factors that come into play. For me the fact that I am staying in Italy so long has an affect on the price. In gener
al though there are many reason that the 6-8 week window will not work . Gas prices have a huge impact on the prices of tickets. If the prices jump the so will ticket prices.

The best way to navigate these waters is to keep a close eye on prices. As soon as dates are set, look up prices on a few different sites. Never trust that what you are looking at is the lowest price. There are a lot of different sites that work different ways that may be able to offer a better fare. Once you have a range of what the price looks like now, follow the movement of prices are time passes. If they start to rise then it may be an indicator that you should but. If they start to fall that could mean hold off. There is no guarantee on a price while shopping for air fare.

For students and professors, there is a web site out there that often has lower prices. Student Universe.com for the most part has better prices for students. They also have hotels, rail and trips available. Even though it is generally cheaper, they are not always at the best time, and are not always the best value. Be sure to shop around and be knowledgeable about what the average is. If you do this then you are on your way to finding a cheap flight.

Spring in Rochester

The weather is starting to turn nice in Rochester! One of my favorite places to go is Pittsford where you can wander the canal and all of the little shops near by. To get the most out of the nice weather, I decided to go for a bike ride with one of my close friends. The canal trails are well kept and perfect for taking long bike rides on. I had an amazing trip and can not wait for my next adventure!

Italy

I have been accepted to FUA in Florence for the fall semester! It will be four months of food, wine and Italian culture. Currently I am studying Italian so that by the time September comes I will be ready to hop a plane and submerse myself in the culture and ambiance of Florence. The housing is apartment style dorms, which I will be sharing with two of my close friends, Maureen and Nina. The school is in central Florence in the older part of the city. The gelato is calling my name :)
http://www.saiprograms.com/florence/fua

Skating Event to Raise Money for Golisano Children’s Hospital

RIT’s Women in Business club organizes annual fundraising effort

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The third annual Skate for a Cause, hosted by RIT’s Women in Business club, will raise money for the Golisano Children’s Hospital.

March 24, 2011
by Vienna Carvalho-McGrain
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The Women in Business club at Rochester Institute of Technology must have a direct line to Mother Nature. While many of us have spring on our minds, the students in this organization are capitalizing on the spring snowfall by hosting the third annual “Skate for a Cause” fundraiser on March 26 in RIT’s Ritter Arena. The general public is welcome to skate from 5-7 p.m. and RIT students can skate from 10 p.m.-midnight. A $5 donation per person covers admission, skate rental and hot chocolate. The session for the general public features music by WITR-FM (89.7) and entertainment by the RIT Juggling Club.

This year’s event benefits the Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong.

“The event is really fun to host and it is a great feeling when we are able to help out a good cause,” says Kara Shierly, communications officer for RIT’s Women in Business organization.

Last year, proceeds from the event were donated to the Rochester-based organization Joining Hearts and Hands to complete a classroom in Kenya at the Hannah’s Hope school. The building is named for Hannah Congdon, a Fairport High School graduate killed in a car accident in 2007.

RIT’s Women in Business club is an organization for female students in all stages of their educational careers. Through networking, educational events and community service, the organization creates and strengthens skills in leadership, business, education and life management.

Taken from: http://www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=48199

Undergraduate work at RIT

Many people know that I came into RIT with 44 credits from high school. This is great and I am glad I was able to do it, but sometimes I wonder if it is for the best. 44 credits means that before I even moved into my dorm room or met my roommate, I was a sophomore. The first class I had was a second year class and I was the only freshmen and felt like the only person who didn't already have friends. Within a month of being at RIT I was told that I needed to declare a major and ever since I have felt like life is going at warped speed. Already I am thinking that I should look at graduate school ( and most likely I am way behind on it). There are so many choices to be made right now that the best one can do is to take life as it comes.
Receintly, I have made some big decisions. In order to be able to travel abroad and get the most out of it, I want to study in Florence at FUA for a semester instead of a quarter. This means that there is a whole slue of complications that result because of timing and where the quarters fall. In order to make it happen I sat myself down and planned the rest of my undergraduate career. It surpised me how little was left to plan! This is both exciting and terrifying. I only have 3 quarters left at RIT and will still graduate before I turn 21! I was always told life goes fast and now I am experiancing it first hand.

Help out a good cause

Google Chrome is giving to many worthy charities this December. For those who use Google Chrome make sure you sign up, for those who don't this might be a reason to switch. (Not bad marketing on Google's part)From December 15th to the 19th every time you open a new tab ( or just start up Chrome) will raise money for charities. It is an extension to chrome that is easy to add. At the end of the day you get to pick what charity the money goes to. There are five choices, Nature Conservancy, Charity:Water, Doctors without Boarders, Un Techo Para Mi Pais, and Room to Read. Each one has a definition on the web site.

I hope everyone signs up for this!

Study Abroad

This summer I would like to study abroad and silly me thought it would be easy. I have been working to find a program that would keep me on track for graduation in the spring of 2012. Croatia has no classes that would help me, although the country looks so beautiful. SAI (study abroad Italy) seems to be a prospective program and it seem that it is the one I will be going through. I will definitely want to spend 3 of the weeks in Florance, there is a Travel Writing class that sounds like a really great class and it would go well in a Communications minor. The other section is harder to pick. There is a program in Sicily, which is gorgous and sunny and has beaches but does not have any communications classes. There are some GE class I could take like Wine Apreciaiton, and how amazing would it be to take that in Italy! There is so much to learn about the culture and ways of the Italians. It is such a hard choice. If only I wasn't limited to 4 classes! It is so exciting that I could be spending most of my summer in Italy. There are so many options and so little time!