"Why Jordan?" by Juliana Cosenza

At this moment, I am approximately a week away from traveling to Amman, Jordan where I will be studying for my semester abroad. I am extremely excited to share my experiences through this outlet. Overall, I hope this blog will give you an insight into not only my experiences but also myself.

I am a junior Global Interdisciplinary Studies and Arabic & Islamic Studies major with a minor in Peace & Justice at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. Additionally, I am from Oyster Bay, a small town in Long Island, New York. Some clubs and organizations I am involved in at Villanova include Blue Key Society, the university’s tour guide and ambassador organization, Candidate’s Day Committee, Reaching Out to Urban Individuals Through Acts of Love (RUIBAL), a service organization dedicated to serving elementary schools in Philadelphia during their after school program, and the Sophomore Service Learning Community.

I chose my major because of an interfaith pilgrimage during my junior year of high school. This pilgrimage, called “Project Understanding,” comprised of a group of Catholic and Jewish teenagers, a religious brother, a Rabbi, and his wife who traveled to Israel and Palestine in order to learn the significance of interfaith dialogue, coexistence, and cultural immersion. One of the most eye-opening moments was overlooking a quaint Syrian village while standing atop the Golan Heights. At that moment, I realized that the war in Syria was more than just another headline across the bottom of any news channel. Reflecting on this impactful memory reminded me of a wise saying: “Once your eyes have been opened to reality, regardless of how harsh it may be, you can never un-see it.” Regardless of how painful this sight was, I could not just forget it. After that day, something changed within me.

After I returned home from Israel, I found myself constantly familiarizing myself with Middle Eastern news channels and stations, notifying me of any current events, articles, etc. In those moments where I should have been paying attention in calculus class, I was reading about the current events in Syria, wondering if anything else had happened to that small Syrian village underneath the beautiful mountainside.

During the summer before my freshman year of college, I spontaneously decided to fulfill my core language requirement by taking Arabic for a year. I figured that taking Arabic would be another way to better connect with the Middle East, a place I had so much love and appreciation for since Project Understanding. Of course, I knew taking Arabic would be a challenge, and learning any new language with an entirely different alphabet is difficult. While I did struggle in my first couple of weeks acclimating to the new alphabet and characters, I quickly grew fond of my Arabic class. Plus, I had an amazing professor who inspired me to study abroad in the Arab world.

Overall, I chose Amman because it is not the typical study abroad location, and I aspired to explore and appreciate all the differences Amman and AMIDEAST have to teach me. Furthermore, I hoped for a study abroad program where I could expand my knowledge of the Arabic language in order to communicate with others. I wanted to live in a host family in order to fully immerse myself in the daily life of my host country. And ultimately, I wanted to meet other students with similar interests in order to grow together. I could not be any more excited for this next chapter.