FALL 2011 - Lake Erie College

Student SPotlight
In a world brimming with
opportunities, Lake Erie senior
chooses Italy
by Katie Staats ’09, MBA ’11
New friends, new cuisine, new times. For most people, studying
abroad is more about having fun than a new learning experience.
But for Lake Erie College senior Kaitlyne Perrill, becoming
immersed in Italian culture was one of her most valuable and life
changing experiences to date.
While on vacation, Perrill fell in love with Rome and knew this
was something she wanted to continue to explore. She ran with
her intuition and, with the help of Jonathan Klein, Lake Erie’s
coordinator of international studies, she was able to find the
perfect American school in Rome, John Cabot University. After
sending a letter of recommendation and her transcripts, Perrill
was accepted into the school and left for Italy on May 17, 2011 for
a six-week trip.
From swimming in underwater caves in the Amalfi Coast in
southern Italy to diving off 45-foot cliffs into the Mediterranean
Sea, Perrill truly learned the meaning of conquering your fears.
Terrified of heights, she never thought she would even consider
cliff diving. Nevertheless, with a final prayer and a scream, she
swallowed her fears and plunged into the sea, a metaphor that
can be applied to her entire experience studying abroad.
“I’ve never been the type of person who would jump into a sea of
water filled with sharks, giant fish and unknown areas,” said Perrill.
“Experiences like this needed to be taken advantage of even if it
meant feeling uncomfortable.”
Perrill lived in an apartment in Trastevere, Rome with four other
girls from Ukraine, New Jersey, Boston and Connecticut. Learning
how different people live allowed her to apply the lessons she
learned to her own life. School was difficult at times, but her
experience in Italian studies allowed Perrill to communicate with
her professor and classmates.
Continued on page 46
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