Studying Abroad in Florence Wasn’t a Detour—It Was the Point

I didn’t go to Florence to eat pasta under the Tuscan sun (although yes, that absolutely happened). I went because I wanted a break from the concrete urgency of New York. I went because I wanted to feel time move differently. I went, honestly, because I was starting to lose perspective.

What I didn’t expect was how much a few weeks in Italy would reshape how I think about marketing, storytelling, and what it means to feel present in a brand experience.

NYU SPS offers short-term study abroad programs that let you explore global markets, cultural systems, and consumer behavior—in context. I took the leap and joined the Global Perspectives on Consumer Culture course in Florence. It was only two weeks, but it stretched my brain more than an entire semester ever could.

Slower Streets, Sharper Thinking

One of the first things I noticed was the pace. In New York, everything screams for your attention—ads, people, deadlines. In Florence, things unfolded.

You watched how locals picked their produce. How a brand like Gucci told its story not with billboards, but with curation, mood, and space. How coffee wasn’t just a caffeine delivery system—it was ritual, routine, identity.

For a marketing student, this was gold. I realized how much American marketing trains us to think in “grabs”—grab their attention, grab their data, grab the market. But in Florence, brands didn’t grab. They invited. They built trust in whispers.

Learning Outside the Slide Deck

Every day was a blend of classroom sessions, company visits, and field observations. We visited artisan studios, small businesses, and global luxury brands. We discussed how cultural heritage shaped purchasing decisions. We unpacked how consumer identity looked different when shaped by legacy rather than novelty.

At one point, we were asked to analyze how a single retail space made us feel—what it signaled, what it muted, what it said without words. That single exercise taught me more about experiential branding than any textbook ever did.

It reminded me that marketing isn’t just what we say. It’s the air we design around the message.

Community Beyond Campus

I went in not knowing anyone. I left with friends I now text weekly.

There’s something about sharing an unfamiliar place—navigating menus, getting lost in alleyways, comparing notes over late dinners—that builds instant connection. We weren’t just classmates. We were witnesses to each other’s curiosity.

NYU SPS attracts people from all over the world, with wildly different experiences. Study abroad makes those perspectives louder. Richer. You start to see how differently people interpret the same ad, the same campaign, the same moment. And that makes you sharper.

A Shift That Stays With You

Since coming back to New York, I’ve noticed I move slower—but think faster.

I ask different questions in class. I look at brand experiences with more nuance. I pay attention to what people feel, not just what they click. The study abroad program didn’t just give me credits. It gave me calibration.

We all come to grad school looking for something—a skill, a title, a leg up. But sometimes, the best thing you can do is step outside the program, outside the city, outside your habits—and let another place teach you what you didn’t know you were missing.