It was a lovely drizzly evening on Nov. 5 when my dad, former AP Italian teacher Prof. Canetta, and I went to the Italian Consulate next to Boston Harbor. For months, I had felt anxious for the prestigious award ceremony that was about to happen. In May, I applied to the Eduitalia scholarship that pertained to any student who had taken the AP Italian Language and Culture exam, and later in July, I received news that I was one of the winners.

I had just recently graduated from Medford High School and was soon to be off to college at Mount Holyoke in western Massachusetts. There was a lot in general to look forward to. At the ceremony, I received a generous study-abroad scholarship to go to Arezzo, Tuscany, in central Italy from Cultura Italiana Eduitalia. This is a full scholarship that will allow me to take a two-week intensive course on the Italian language in Arezzo in 2019.