USAC Reggio Emilia visiting professor inspired to run even more cohort adventures
One inspiring summer working as a visiting professor at the University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC) Reggio Emilia program gave Carli Ross the boost of confidence to develop her own international adapted physical education internship. It was 2019, and daily life in northern Italy — with its unique traditions and cultural values — had a lasting impression on Ross’s personal and professional life. She had to share it with others.
In 2022, Ross led a group of students from Chico State University back to Reggio Emilia to teach kinesiology. Ross partnered with the Italian nonprofit Giochiamo Anche Se Triboliamo (G.A.S.T.), which translates to “we play even if we struggle,” to make it happen. The internship was inspired by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE) course she taught through USAC. She described it as one of her favorite classes due to both the great curriculum and the amazing community feeling that the group collectively felt.
“On Mondays, we would all get back from traveling over the weekend and tell our stories of adventures and connections,” Ross said about her 2019 course. “It was so fun to learn and grow together. This was the year we came up with the mantra, ‘sana vita bella,’ representing a beautiful, healthy life. I think in some way we have all stuck with that mantra as we follow each other on social media and support from afar.”
Ross pays a lot of gratitude to USAC Resident Director Simona Lai, who helped introduce her to a whole new world in Italy back then. For Ross’s own program, the internship was a great success, and as expected, another class of global citizens was born.
Reliving the dream
In the following year, Ross was able to reconnect with her former 2019 student and USAC alumna Annika Littlehale in their beloved host city. Littlehale returned to Reggio Emilia to complete a yearlong post-graduate interior design program in Florence.
“We met up for an evening of reminiscing and sharing our new adventures,” Ross said. “It was like no time had passed and it had been so long all at the same time. I am bursting with pride listening to her last four years of growth.”
Littlehale was equally proud of Ross for developing her wonderful program with G.A.S.T. and reflected that international education courses offered through USAC opened the world up to her.
“It truly was the catalyst that started my drive to live more long term in Europe — Italy specifically,” Littlehale said. “I always had a passion for travel and USAC was the best program to get my feet wet on traveling solo and learning about European culture.”
There are four USAC programs in Italy, located in Reggio Emilia, Torino, Verona, and Viterbo. Students can participate in a variety of internships at all four sites, experiencing the Italian career fields of arts and culture, digital marketing and social media management, Italian language instruction, journalism and communications and many more.
The summer sessions spent in Reggio Emilia are transformative and inspiring to students and faculty alike.
“Alumni, remember the moments of this project, big and small, and the growth you have all made in this short amount of time.” Ross said. “It takes a strong and brave person to do what you have done! Bravissimo!”
Read more about USAC alumni experiences in Italy on the USAC blog.
