Kali Slaymaker is a first-generation college student who will earn her degree in marketing from the University of Iowa in 2016 after just three years of study. Kali was a 2015 recipient of the Diversity Ambassador Scholarship for Study Abroad which she applied toward a summer program with CIMBA in Paderno Del Grappa, Italy during summer 2015. The following is a reflection by Kali on her time abroad.

Sean O’Harrow, the director of the University of Iowa Museum of Art, said there’s much more to Pollock, his work, and his legacy than people give him credit for, and a new exhibition at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, organized by the UI Art Museum, will show people just how influential and important Pollack was — and is still.

UI student Andrew Mogni passed away on Sunday morning, April 5, 2015, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Andrew sustained serious injuries after a fall in Rome on January 14.

In a swell of glinting green canals and cobblestoned curving streets, Venice is a natural attraction. For decades, this small northern city has been a place for travel for many Italians as well as tourists from all over the world. As if for fear of a disappearing city, an estimated 47.7 million people venture to Venice a year—about 200,000 in a summer day.

A city is a work of art. With layers upon layers of history and meaning, a city can be unraveled at the seams and exposed. No matter the age, architecture and art will unfold around you as you turn corner after corner—taking in what it has to offer.

UI student Andrew Mogni sustained serious injuries after a fall in Rome on January 14. He passed away on Sunday morning, April 5, 2015, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Hunter Sharpless, originally from Dallas, TX, graduated from the University of Iowa in 2012 with a degree in English Literature. While at the UI, Hunter studied abroad on the USAC program in Turin, Italy, in 2011. Currently, he is an MFA candidate in nonfiction writing as well as a teaching assistant at the University of Minnesota. Read on to learn how Hunter's time abroad enhanced his calling as a writer, as well as how to make the most of your experiences in a new country.