It is Friday night, of the first week at CIMBA, and as I sit at my desk, listening to everyone getting ready for their first weekend way, I cannot be happier to just be staying on campus and exploring the area. I know they will come back on Sunday with amazing stories to tell but for me, it is more important to make my physical and mental health a priority over travel. Do not get me wrong, I would have loved to travel to Florence or Venice with the group. Seeing all the sites and history but after traveling from my home state of Michigan, then having a 6-hour layover in Philadelphia, landing at Marco Polo Airport, and waiting for the rest of the students to arrive. Then getting on a bus and traveling about an hour north to Paderno del Grappa, we will just say it was a lot to fight off the jet lag. From the time we arrived on Monday to the time we were all let go from the last class on Friday it was go, go, go. I could feel myself getting depressed and homesick. I was crying myself to sleep at night and that was not ok. I needed to refocus my time, my mind, and my body and that meant staying at school while everyone else went away for the weekend. I first started by going to the Sports Bar for dinner and a drink with two classmates on Friday night who decided to stay the night on campus and leave in the morning. By the time I woke up, to the cleaning crew in the hallways, it was 8:30 am and I quickly took out my red door hanger so I could get in the shower and dressed. Changed my door hanger to green, greeted the cleaning crew with a “Buongiorno” and off to the Bar (coffee shop) for cappuccino and tiramisu. Sitting at the table and watching the locals come in and order their drinks and chat, only able to pick up a word or two here and there, I found peace as they took sips from their cups standing at the counter. Only sitting if they ordered food and even then, taking time to enjoy what was in front of them. After I finished, I went up and paid, thanked the man, and walked out the door. To my right was the way back to campus and to the left I could see Mount Grappa and the unknown, so I went left. As I got a little closer to Mount Grappa, I got a little sick about the following day when I was to hike it, but I smiled at it and said, “See you later!” I pulled up my map on my phone so I would not get lost but for the next couple of hours, I just walked and looked at everything. I found the town square, a pizzeria that one of the professors had told us about, and another restaurant called Osteria SMarco. With it being Saturday, the town was remarkably busy with cyclists so when crossing the road, I found out, that you do not just have to watch out for cars but for bikes as well. By this time, I was walking back to campus and started getting one of my almost daily migraines, so I went back to my room, took my meds, and laid down for the night. When I woke in the morning, I was refreshed and ready to tackle Mount Grappa or so I thought. 8:15 am and the bus was here to pick eight of us up plus the professor that was taking us. The driver takes us to “our” starting point and the professor tells him to meet us at the top at 3:30 pm. Some ground rules were set and off we went. I quickly found out that I made a mistake, but I had to make it to the top for me. I needed to do this not only for myself but for my physical and mental health because if I could conquer this mountain then I could conquer anything that is put in front of me. I did, halfway up, get a migraine and that became a huge struggle and at almost the top I was unsure if I was going to pass out from the pain or get sick, but I pushed and managed to make it to the restaurant. I ordered a sandwich, water, and a soda and went outside, sat down at a table, and cried for a minute. I had just done it!!!! I just did something that even a year ago was not possible!