Learning Lots!

February 25, 2024

This week was long. The past two months have been busy, but in the sense that there has been a lot to do and ample time to do it. This week however, school started back up, and we hit the ground running. The first three days of the week I have class all day, but Thursday and Friday are usually off unless we have a field trip or practical. I’m looking forward to this semester! There are some new students joining us from France for the next few months, and it’s nice to have some new faces in the program. Classes are going to be difficult, but I’m stoked about what I’m learning.

We start our week with 5 hours of Disease and Pest Management. Thankfully the class is broken up; one professor teaches about plant pathology and grapevine diseases, the other talks about pests. I will come out of this semester with a thorough understanding of insects. I can’t seem to get very excited about that…

We will spend a good portion of the semester learning about Grapevine Varieties and Terroir – which is essentially a more in-depth version of what I studied for the Introductory Sommelier Certification. We dive into wine regions and the specific grapes and winemaking methods used to create the wines around the world.

I also have an Organic Vineyard Management class where, you guessed it, we will learn how to manage vineyards organically. The professor teaching that class also leads a field class where we get to work hands on. On Thursday, we got to learn how to prune vines at our school’s little vineyard. It was a cold and wet day, but it was so fun to be outside, learning how to do something we talk about in class all the time. I have my own little spur-pruned vine at school now. Hopefully it bears good fruit in season!

Grape and Wine Biotechnology will probably be the hardest class I have this year, but it equally as interesting. We are currently doing an overview of genetics, which brings me back to my high school biology class. I love it. The class dives into grapevine breeding. We will get to dive into how some countries are using technology to manipulate specific genes in vines so they can form resistance to biotic and abiotic pressures while maintaining the grape variety’s quality… yes, the grapes are GMOs, but it really is fascinating to learn about.

Going to a catholic school in Italy is quite the experience. The pope was here a couple weeks ago and will be back in March. How crazy is that?! On Wednesday mornings, we have a Theology course. Our professor is a young priest, and you can tell he pours a lot of time into preparing thought-provoking classes for us. We always do an activity, much like the ones you probably did in elementary school. The first week we had to see what group could make the tallest structure using tape, string, dried spaghetti (he had us used kebab skewers instead, because you don’t waste pasta in Italy), and a marshmallow. This week we did trust exercises. We’ve been talking about trust, discussing how science and religion can support each other and not just tear each other down, discussing, and debating.

I’m learning plenty outside of classes too… like apparently my friend Marte is a Norwegian one-hit-wonder, and her dad makes (literally) the best cheese in the whole world? My friends never cease to amaze me.

If I’m being honest, this week was hard. I was tired, I missed my cousin/best friend’s bridal shower back home, and I felt a bit overwhelmed by all the information I was taking in. But I’m thankful for the support system I have. I’m thankful for walk and talks with friends, I’m thankful for lunchtime conversations at school, I’m thankful for quiet mornings, I’m thankful for laughter filled evenings, and I’m thankful for Facetime, and I’m thankful for everything I’m getting to learn.