Geneviève Rousseau
Last September, I had the chance to participate to a "student jury" at the Venice Film Festival. I watched a lot of films, we chose a winner ( a German film, Soul Kitchen) and I also wrote articles for the newspapers there. But what made me happy the most is that I won a scriptwriting contest. This gave me the chance to work on my idea with an Italian Screenwriter, Pier Paolo Piciarelli and an Italian director, Alessandro Valori. The actors were the young Giulia Perrelli and Mario Donatone, who played in The Godfather III. I will always remember my two weeks there. I did not have the chance to sleep a lot but instead I met a lot of young students from around the world, I have been able to practice my Italian, and I learned a lot about the film business. Because of my Italian courses, I have been able to understand the people I met and to be understood by them. You should see the smile on their face when we make an effort to speak their language. I wish I will be able to go in Italy again, to study or as a tourist, because it is such a beautiful country and the Italians are very welcoming. I wish I will see these students, actors and directors again. We were like a big family. And I also hope that this experience will have opened doors for my future. I know that Bishops will give me the tools I need for my future and I can't wait to see what's next.
Romina Barony Sanchez
Writing a testimonial about my experience at Bishop’s was not an easy task. There are so many incredible things that came into my mind that it was difficult to join them together in a single thought.
As a foreign student, my life in Canada has been an adventure, and my stay at Bishop’s the greatest of them all. This is an institution that gave me the opportunity to grow personally and intellectually by offering me great academic programs and teachers that acknowledged my presence and that I could trust.
As a student at Bishop’s you are encouraged to experience and take advantage of all of your talents. That is how while completing my B.A. I became involved with the Italian Department and learned not only a new language but also a new culture, a new way to express myself. This nourished my need to explore and discover, to travel while putting my knowledge to the test.
What I learned at Bishop’s helped me walk though Italy with new eyes. It allowed me to understand not only the words in a conversation but also the true meaning of those words, the hidden accents, and the story behind them. I felt I was part of what I saw because I could understand it in a more profound way. This feeling will never be taken away from me, and will forever nourish my need to keep learning, to evolve, to seek, and to become the best person that I can be.
For all of this and much more I will be forever thankful to Bishop’s University.
Marlène Ménard
My immersion experience in Italy during the summer of 2007 was stimulating and engaging and allowed me to accomplish more. In fact, it gave me the opportunity to improve the lessons already learned at Bishop’s University and to develop relationships with other students.
Classes were composed of people from many countries like Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Croatia, etc. It was an extraordinary cultural experience. Every student, with his or her own background and culture, was respectful of everyone and curious to know more about Italian civilization.
We had lessons on Italian culture twice a week, given by different professors. Every lesson was conducted in Italian, and topics included Italian literature, theatre and opera. I found the course captivating.
Moreover, we enjoyed weekend visits to great Italian cities: Roma, Firenze, Siena, Venezia. We were led by an energetic and engaging guide who not only informed us about the history of monuments and sites, but also enriched our knowledge with interesting facts about each site we visited.
We also had the chance to see an opera in an open amphitheatre: Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi -- one of the most amazing moments of my stay in Italy.
The summer Italian immersion program offered by Bishop’s was a wonderful way to learn more, to meet Italian people and to visit beautiful and historic Italy.
Loretta Bucher
What better way to finish a year of study in Italian language and culture than with a stay in Italy? I was very fortunate to have the possibility to spend a month at the Dante Alighieri school in Castelraimondo in 2007. Discovering Italian countryside, absorbing Italian patrimony and culture, getting to know the people who lived in the small town as well as people of all ages and many different countries around the world – all this is part of an enriching experience that will affect me for the rest of my life.
