On a sunny afternoon in late June 2007, Dylan Wyka, now a junior at Marist College received a phone call that would change his life for good. The call was from Sarah Gunner, an RD for Marist’s Florence Freshman Experience (FFE), a program that gave a select number of incoming freshmen the chance to study abroad and live in Florence for their first year of college before returning to the Marist College campus to complete their studies. Wyka replied with only four words; “When do I leave?” Since the day he boarded his flight at JFK airport two months later, with seventeen other freshman, he has called Italy his home away from home.
But, what sets him apart from the others who have been to Florence through the study abroad program? He has been the only student who has spent both his freshman and sophomore year studying at the Scuola Lorenzo de’ Medici, and this semester is his first time studying at the Marist campus since he left for Italy as a freshman 2 years ago.
He recalled that, going into his freshman year of high school, long before he knew he would be studying in Florence four years later, he had read a book about the great Italian architect Brunelleschi and the Dome.
“It’s crazy,” said Wyka, “I read the book, and then my freshman year of college I was living two blocks away from it.”
After his freshman year in Italy was over, he decided he didn’t want to leave. Florence had become his home, a place where he felt comfortable and identified with, adapting much of the culture of the people as his own.
“I had such great experiences in Italy, and made friends with so many people my freshman year, I decided that I wanted to spend another year there.” he said.
This semester has been a change, as Wyka is taking 7 courses to complete the foundation for his major in communications before returning to Italy to complete his studies, which he hopes to do by the end of next year, graduating a semester early.
As part of his involvement in the city of Florence, Wyka works playing gigs at different bars and pubs, and this past semester played the piano at the wedding of Vittoria Ferragamo, a relative of the late Salvatore Ferragamo, a fashion designer first known in his hometown of Florence for his artistry in custom shoemaking for celebrities around the world.
In addition to Wyka’s his involvement in Florence, he has visited thirteen countries in Europe, and has become completely fluent in Italian.
Having lived in Italy for more than a year, Wyka says he has gotten much more than just a study abroad experience, but a cultural experience that the average study abroad student can never get.
