If you ever wanted to experience Italy without leaving the comfort of your home or office, heres your chance.
West Virginia Universitys new Web site,Blogging from Abroad,(http://fromabroad.blogs.wvu.edu/) debuted this week with junior management information systems major Julie Cerrone behind the computer, taking readers with her as she experiences beautiful, historical Italy.
The site is an integrated effort of the Division of University Advancement and Marketing, with support from Web Services and News and Information Services.
It is a follow-up to the popular student Video Diarieshttp://studentdiaries.wvu.edu/which also features Cerrones and other studentsreal-life educational, recreational and social exploits through a students lens. This site recently won a national Marcom creative award.
With the popularity of myspace.com, facebook.com and collegeconfidential.com, theblogosphereis quickly becoming popular among college students, officials say. Social networking sites serve as both the vehicle for students to interact and also provide a powerful word of mouth education component for students.
As an outgrowth of the popularity of the video diaries and with the popularity of blogs among 15- to 25-year-old users, Web Services began working on the software application within our content management system in November/December to be able to offer blogs to University programs and departments,said Cathy Orndorff, director of Web Services.
The first two blogs appeared in December, including `The Questionand `The Student Bowl Game Blog.This third blog seems to be an intrinsic way to let others know about the fantastic opportunities of studying abroad through personal accounts and current photos.
Cerrones first blog entry appeared Jan. 16, four days before she left for Italy when she was still home in Pittsburgh, Pa., dealing with a stack of paperwork required to travel abroad. She advises anyone who follows in her footsteps to start filling out the paperwork early.
In the second entry on Jan. 19, she describes the variety of feelings she is experiencing the night before she leaves.Im leaving tomorrow,Cerrone writes.Im so happy and excited and nervous and sad and anxious and pretty much every emotion that you could possibly be feeling.
She also talks about the problems of packing all of her belongings into two suitcases that cant weigh more than 50 pounds. Cerrone is traveling with friend Iwona, who is mentioned asVonthroughout the entries.
She describes leaving the Pittsburgh International Airport and arriving in Chicago OHara International Airport before departing for Munich and then finally arriving in Venice.
Once in Venice, Cerrone and others are bused an hour-and-a-half to the Consortium of Universities for International Studies, a school established by 40 colleges and universities from all over the United States that caters to business, communication and journalism majors.
The next entry, written on Jan. 24, details Cerrones mixed emotions and homesickness after landing in a new country, but she quickly regains her positive outlook as she realizes the opportunity that awaits her and looks forward to the leadership and marketing classes she will be taking.
She also writes about the experience of trying different foodseverything from pasta to crepes, and the difficulty of the expressing yourself in a foreign language.
Yesterday, we walked about three kilometers to a little town called Crespano,she writes.We had our first experience walking into a little café and having no idea what to do or orderor how to do so!
She also details a nine-day trip she, Von and a small group of girls will be taking to London, Paris and Barcelona in the near future.
And, there will be lots more Julie to come as the spring semester progresses.
The next blogging candidate will be Becky Lovell, a multidisciplinary major from Martinsburg who is studying in Hong Kong. Eventually, students from other countries studying abroad at WVU will be added to the site.
Designers on the project were Adam Glenn, David Olsen and Chris Scharf, all professional technologists at Web Services. Chris Southard, web developer with News&Information Services, coordinates the site and Cerrones entries.