Gisselle's art and astronomy studies in Italy!

Gisselle Ramirez Start Date: Mar 24, 2023 - End Date: Jul 21, 2023
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Professional Development
  • Study/Degree Abroad
  • Orvieto, Province of Terni, Italy
  • Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Italy
  • Milan, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy
  • Sicily, Italy

My Travel Story

by: Gisselle Ramirez Start Date: Mar 24, 2023 - End Date: Jul 21, 2023
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Professional Development
  • Study/Degree Abroad
I am a proud freshman at the University of Arizona pursuing a degree in Astronomy. My parents’ formal education ended in middle school and I, along with my sisters, are part of the first generation to attend college. We are indigenous to the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Deep in the mountains, where the clouds hang so low you can touch them, there is a beautiful community I am proud to call my home. We are the Ñuu Savi, ‘people of the rain’. For my ancestors, this was all they knew and all they could hope for. The world beyond might have fascinated them, but moving past that horizon was unfathomable. For my parents, travel was not considered possible for fear of discrimination. And so, they learned to be happy with what they could explore. It makes me happy to say this is not my family’s reality anymore. My parents raised me and my sisters to be proud of where we come from and to not let our background stop us from dreaming. Traveling to Europe would be an accomplishment, a way of paying respect to the dreams my ancestors had of seeing the world beyond their little pueblo. I don’t want to let my fears hold me back from seeing the world. I wish to spend my life traveling and immersing myself in cultures of people I may never have learned about otherwise. Of this lifelong dream, I am optimistic that my first stop could be Italy! 
For my study abroad experience, I chose Orvieto, Italy. As a painter, astronomy major and classical architecture fanatic, I couldn’t imagine a better place to study than in Italy. This program offers courses that would satisfy my graduation requirements as well as a liberating itinerary that allows students to explore on the weekends and a beautiful, safe town to return to study and call their home. I am deeply passionate about my major. It is my biggest dream to be an astronaut and because of this, it was important for me to pick a program that could help me reach my academic goals and build connections with people in the Astronomy field. When I received an email from the ‘Arizona in Orvieto’ team informing me that Astronomy courses would be offered that could fulfill credit requirements for my major, it felt like fate because this program fit my academic path and my personal goals perfectly. To be able to study what I love, in a place I love while working towards my goals is my dream. Italy was home to many great astronomers, and completing research in the same place they were able to accomplish so much would be so inspiring to me.  
I enjoy a range of things from music to science. However, my two greatest loves are Astronomy and classical art. I’m a painter, and with this trip I want to improve my artistic skills by studying the works of The Great Masters. My biggest inspirations in the arts are Michelangelo and Bernini. I have a deep fascination with their art, and one of my intentions with going to Italy is to be able to study their works in person as well as in a formal, academic setting. ARH 415/515: Southern Baroque Art, a class I will be taking which will specifically explore my favorite movement, the Baroque movement, was another huge motivator for me to pursue this program. Though I have done my own research, I would love to be taught by people who have formally studied these topics and that could provide an educated perspective that I would not have had the opportunity to experience otherwise. It would be enlightening to study this movement I am so passionate about further in the country that was the cradle for it.
On a personal level, I have always been drawn to Italy for its proximity to Catholicism. My spirituality as an indigenous person dips into Catholicism a lot as many of the figures that are important to my community come from this religion. A goal of mine is to visit iconic religious pieces found in Italy because when I feel the closest to my God is in places where many others find him, like at these famous landmarks. A lot of my own artwork is influenced by biblical figures and as a painter, I will use this trip to take in as much information as I can, educate myself on the masters of Italy and integrate their teachings into my own work. I started learning Italian two years ago in hopes that when I traveled to Italy, I would be able to communicate with the locals with ease. My studies of Italian have gotten more serious since learning about the Orvieto trip, and I am optimistic of being proficient in Italian by the time the program begins. 
 I have gone through many hardships in the past few years, the most recent being six months ago with losing someone very close to me. This loss, so close to the beginning of my college career, set back plans I had and created new financial difficulties for me and my family. Not to mention the heartbreak of losing the most significant person in my life. Perhaps it is optimistic to think that studying in Italy would help me heal from losing someone so dear to me, but I do know that this trip is already giving me something to look forward to while navigating my grief. I hope that a trip to a country that I admire will keep me optimistic for my future and for the long life I have ahead of me. I hope that upon returning from this trip, I will become an even more devoted scientist, a better artist, and a more grateful person.  
When thinking of this program, my mind falls back to the end of it when I return to my hometown. What memories will I come back with? What knowledge will I achieve? And most importantly, how will I use this experience to help my community? I want to set an example for my sister, who also dreams of studying abroad, by being the first in our entire community to do so. I hope that I can encourage the kids in my community to not give up on their dreams of travel because of what they have been taught to believe is possible. I think back to my ancestors, how they would look up to the same moon and stars I look at now, how proud I am to be a product of their efforts, and how I would like to honor them and myself with this study abroad experience.  
 
  • Orvieto, Province of Terni, Italy
  • Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Italy
  • Milan, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy
  • Sicily, Italy