[May 2011 Issue]
By Mia Warner
Studying at SAIS for the past two years has been an exhilarating and humbling experience, much unlike anything I could have imagined before I started my studies. I spent my first year of SAIS at the Bologna Center (BC) in northern Italy. I came to SAIS after working in consulting in DC for three years and I was worried that the slow pace of life in Italy would drive me nuts, but instead, it was refreshing to ease back into student life in such an enriching atmosphere. Studying in Bologna gave me the opportunity to learn in every aspect of life—not just in the classroom, but also at aperitivo and in the bakery and on jaunts around Europe with my classmates. One of the first times I realized I was at a special place was during orientation. My newly arrived classmates and I attended a talk given by an EU official and then we schmoozed at a wine and cheese reception. The talk was definitely interesting, but the really fascinating part was listening to my fellow classmates’ questions and comments. I was in awe of the range of perspectives that the other students presented. I would say I have prided myself on trying to listen to and read opposition viewpoints as often as I consider those that line up with my own; however, in that moment, I was encountering opinions that I didn’t even know existed! I knew then that SAIS was going to be an experience of a lifetime.
The perspectives of my fellow classmates turned every impromptu dinner outing into a culture lesson. Each and every student had such an impressive background that I could have never been bored just talking to my fellow classmates about their life experiences and how they shaped their outlook on the world. My roommates alone were some of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. One of my roommates in Bologna was a lawyer from Belgium who speaks five languages, has volunteered in Palestine, and has travelled to a million countries, including Cuba. My other roommate, who is originally from Singapore, had also studied and travelled all over the world. It was amazing to learn that someone who had grown up in a country halfway around the world from mine could be so similar to me. She was pivotal in helping me establish a student organization in Bologna called “Christianity Explored,” where SAISers came every week to share a meal and discuss the book of Mark.
Each week, students from a variety of religious backgrounds raised questions that led to thought-provoking conversations. Despite the diversity among the students in Bologna, we were all incredibly close. Studying in Bologna brings a unique aspect to the SAIS experience because immediately upon arriving at the BC, you gain a family of 200+ students and faculty from all over the globe. There’s something about being thrown into a foreign city with a bunch strangers that makes you want to make friends quickly! People say the “SAIS mafia” is tight, but the Bolognesi students are arguably even closer.
The small, intimate setting of the BC also gave us the opportunity to spend quality time with our professors. At the end of the term, many of our professors hosted us for dinner and shared stories about their lives and careers. My professor for Public Sector Economics (a brilliant yet sweet Italian economist who has advised the Pope) opened his home, and he and his wife cooked lunch for our entire class while they handed out life lessons. Another professor (a prominent art historian, who has advised Prince Charles and who appraises pieces for Sotheby’s and Christie’s) took us on a field trip to see the Accademia, the Uffizi, and the architectural sites of Florence, and then hosted us for dinner at her beautiful home. Beyond travelling to neighboring Italian towns, we also took advantage of Bologna’s proximity to many other exciting locales. One weekend in November, I loaded into a bus with about 50 of my classmates and trekked to Zermatt, Switzerland, where we rented a private cabin in the foothills of the Matterhorn. Two months later, intercession break took us all over the world—people traveled to Egypt, Turkey, Malta, the Canary Islands, and all over Europe and the U.S. I helped coordinate a study trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where a dozen SAISers examined the complexities of governance and conflict management through meetings with local officials and international organizations, including a former general of Serbian ethnicity who fought for the Bosniak army, Republika Srpska officials, EUFOR, the Constitutional Court of BiH, and the World Bank. Among my fellow travelers were SAISers from both sides of the conflict: a Serbian and Bosniak who are great friends and who are both now working towards reconciliation in their country.
After the study trip, I took a quick tour of Budapest before meeting up with my classmates at the IAEA Ball at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. I truly felt like I was living someone else’s life during that week, especially as my well-dressed classmates and I greeted each other at the Palace with double-cheek kisses and exchanged stories of our trips over the break. By the end of the year, I certainly felt like I had spent a “lifetime in the world,” as the SAIS BC website advertises. I had visited 13 countries, tasted innumerable varieties of gelato and wine, and became lifelong friends with some of the most amazing people in the world. As I come to the end of my studies, I’m sad that it’s almost over, but I’m grateful for the experiences I’ve had at SAIS and I’m excited to see where we’ll all go from here. I also can’t wait until the five-year reunion in Bologna, when I’ll get to eat authentic Italian food again and hear about the incredible impact my classmates have made on the world!
Mia is a second-year M.A. candidate concentrating in International Law and Organizations.
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