Venice, Italy is associated with weaving canals, grand palaces, delicious food and roaming tourists. To me, though, Venice is not just a beautiful and unique city – Venice is home and home is Casa Artom.
I studied abroad at Casa Artom, Wake Forest’s house on the Grand Canal, in the Fall of 2024. I decided to go abroad as a sophomore because the program for the semester was journalism. As a journalism minor, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go abroad with Professor Phoebe Zerwick. Still, I was terrified of going to a new place with people I had never met before.
Think about living in a house with people you don’t know – sharing a kitchen, living room, bathroom and classroom. Now, think about living in this house in an unfamiliar country. Even though it sounds risky, and though I lived in a house full of upperclassmen, I never felt unwelcome or inferior. We shared the highs and the lows. Everything we went through was together, bonding more and more every second of the semester.
The group bonding fully began on our class trip to Bergamo a month after we arrived at Casa Artom. We went to Bergamo as the city was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic when the disease moved from China to Europe. We wanted to interview those who were impacted by the virus in their community for our journalism program. In short, the trip didn’t go as planned – two people were left on the train, two people caught a stomach bug, we stayed in a sketchy hotel and countless mishaps occurred. We still joke that this trip “trauma bonded” us. Though it seemed messy at the moment, the weekend is one of my most cherished memories from the semester because of the relationships I formed.

When people ask me about my favorite place I visited while abroad, I can’t help but be conflicted — my favorite place was truly Casa Artom. Waking up to a view of the Grand Canal (shoutout room 9) and going to class right downstairs was an unparalleled experience.
I want to emphasize how important the professors and staff were to my experience, as well. They made the transition easy, provided wisdom, taught us about where we lived and made learning fun. My favorite part of the week was going on our two-hour history walks with Professor Monica Chojnacka. We would pick one of the six neighborhoods in Venice and walk around with our own personal tour guide who knew every detail about the architecture and historical life. Another significant academic element of my semester was the Magazine Writing course. We were instructed to find a local Venetian to write a profile about over the whole semester. Though initially daunting, the project was some of the most rewarding work I’ve ever completed. My subject, Federico Sutera, a photographer from Venice, was fun to work with and taught me so much about the city from a local perspective.
As far as travel goes, I was privileged to explore a new destination almost every weekend. My favorite place was the Dolomites, better known as the Italian Alps. Two friends from Casa Artom and I rented a car and took a road trip to the mountains. It started snowing after two hours of smooth driving, despite no chance of snow on the radar. We ended up stuck on the top of a mountain for a while in a blizzard and had to ask three German men to push our car up the hill to get us moving. We finally made it to our quaint bed and breakfast and spent the rest of the weekend on beautiful hikes in this winter wonderland. It was incredible.
My time abroad consisted of so many exciting adventures: unexpectedly good times, beautiful travel destinations, new friendships and self-growth. If I hadn’t gone to Italy, I wouldn’t have been as open-minded, easy-going, or independent. Casa Artom changed everything for me.
Today, I would not change my experience at Casa Artom for anything. Going abroad last semester was a life-changing experience at the perfect time. The students in the house became family, the faculty became mentors and the community became home. Now that I am back at Wake Forest, I can’t stop reflecting on my experience in Venice, and I am so thankful for it all.