This September, I spent two weeks living in Rome, taking a beginners Italian language course and getting to know the eternal city. Solo travelling has always appealed to me, since it gives a small insight into what it would look like to live abroad, which I have always been interested in. As a fairly independent person who usually plans big parts of holidays with family and friends, I was curious to test myself and see how I would cope when I knew that I would be fully self-reliant in terms of logistics. Equally, I was excited to be able to plan my days exactly according to my own wishes. 

Each weekday, I had three hour intensive classes held solely in Italian with classmates from all across the globe – from the US, Korea, Greece and Cyprus. I was by far the youngest person in the class which was initially intimidating, however, after struggling together on the school’s three hour walking tour held entirely in Italian, I realised that age is no barrier to friendship. Within networking contexts, I usually am quite nervous around older professionals, despite being a very social person otherwise. I think this realisation will help me to not put them on a pedestal and make talking to them far easier, knowing that they are generally very happy to impart wisdom and advice on younger generations and we do have mutual interests.

Shared experiences of walking up Rome’s hills in 35 degree heat bonded the group together and made the teaching environment far more welcoming. Our teacher, Alessandro, was hilarious and eased our nerves gently throughout each class, despite rarely speaking to us in English, and encouraged us to only ask questions in Italian. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to pick up the language and realised how much I had missed the classroom, especially as a humanities student with very few contact hours. It surprisingly made me realise that I probably want to pursue a second career as a teacher later in my life.

Within social contexts, I attempted to embrace spontaneity and let myself sit with the unease that usually comes when I am not fully in control of plans. I think it is important to sit with uncomfortable emotions to understand why they arise and tackle their root causes. It is easy to push these feelings down in the business of term, however, since I was alone for most of my time in Rome, I wanted to take advantage of the chance to slow down and analyse my thoughts and tendencies. Having been surrounded by friends and family for most of the summer, my two weeks alone were more challenging than I had anticipated. Even though I was excited by all I could see and do, the prospect of 14 days alone with no firm plans was daunting. It was also emotionally exhausting to constantly be surrounded by new people and figuring out my way around a new city with unreliable public transport. However, it taught me to prioritise what would bring me joy, to slow down and be kind to myself when I was feeling low. Some of my favourite afternoons were spent in parks reading a book and people watching or lying in the grass in the Borghese Gardens and cloud spotting. I became more in tune with my personal happiness and my own boundaries and limits, which has helped me on my return to Cambridge, as I feel I can say no to events I would previously have felt pressured to attend and invest in what truly energises me. I found evenings the trickiest as most social events centred around drinking, which I don’t partake in as a Muslim, and meeting places were generally quite far from the neighbourhood where I was living, but I decided to take that time to journal my thoughts from the day, which I will look back on for many years. 

My favourite part of Rome was undoubtedly the museums. Getting the opportunity to pore over artwork and visit sites I have learnt so much about over the years was life changing. Seeing the imprint of Pluto’s fingers on Proserpina’s body and the sheer panic overcoming her entire body and physicality was incredible; the emotion of the scene palpably seeped in the gallery room. I also spent a glorious 10 hours in the Vatican Museums pouring over every single room. The tucked away Etruscan section was amazing, housing some of the world’s most famous and valuable sympotic pottery that most tourists breezed past. I have never been so meticulous in my coverage of museums and felt so content and uplifted leaving them.  

Feeling lonely also made my interactions with the people of Rome that much more meaningful. Spending one afternoon wandering through a street of antique shops, I stumbled upon a woman whose shop had been in the family for five generations. I was incredibly moved by her kindness and desire to share knowledge as she explained every piece to me, even those not for sale and vastly out of my price range. Witnessing such intense passion and joy for one’s job made me realise that I want to have a similar feeling about my career. Last year, I felt driven by the prestige and pay attached to the legal sphere and chose firms accordingly, and felt incredibly lost as a result. I have now realised that I seriously want to pursue art and cultural property law, as it combines my passion for the art world and has a large personal aspect with lots of private client work, where I can build long lasting, meaningful relationships.

This trip tested me emotionally far more than I expected, however, I genuinely felt I have grown from this experience and learnt what truly matters to me and what I value the most. I am so grateful to LEAP for facilitating this trip that I will truly carry with me for the rest of my life.