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BA, 2017 
Italian

Marlene graduated in 2017 with a BA in Italian. Currently Marlene is working at the Univerity of Colorado Boulder as a Transfer Admissions Counselor in the Admissions Office.

I declared a Humanities major the day of freshman orientation- having no idea what that meant- after looking at the degree audit for an Integrative physiology major. How did I chose to study Italian? To begin with, my freshman advisor told me I had not taken enough language courses in high school and thus had to take three semesters of a language of my choice at CU. Annoyed at the already-confusing university curriculum, as my advisor read the endless language possibilities, I stopped her at Italian. Three semesters quickly flew by and I realized that my Italian classes gave me a thrill that no other class gave me. I asked about a minor- then soon after, a major. I simply did not want to stop taking Italian classes.

Four years later, I am using my Italian major more than I ever imagined. I studied abroad in Ferrara during fall semester of 2016, where I lived with a host family and took classes at the local university. By May of 2017, three months before my official graduation, I had a job waiting for me in Milan- la città metropolitana. As you can imagine, summer was filled with prospect. Forward to now and I use my Italian every single day.

If it had not been for the Italian department always procuring not only my academic but also my professional life, I would not be nearly as happy as I am today. More than a “department”, I learned to view everyone as la mia famiglia. Out of a mass of 30,000 students trying to make it into the “real world,” the staff in the Italian department truly sought out my potential and provided me with a plethora of resources that enabled me to thrive with my Italian major. Studying Italian at CU Boulder was an unforgettable experience that created life-long bonds and passions.