Chelsea Bonan, photo supplied
UWinnipeg’s Chelsea Bonan is in Italy this summer on a full scholarship from the Italian Cultural Institute, Toronto and an Italian Canadian Foundation of Manitoba Scholarship.
These scholarships allow her to attend an Italian language school in Florence, Italy for four-weeks, thanks to her love of everything Italian. While in Florence, Bonan will be fully immersed in Italian culture and language while adapting to the Italian way of life.
This summer’s Florence trip is a result of Bonan wanting to reconnect with her Italian heritage. A few years ago, she traveled to the small medieval village of Castiglion Fiorentino in Tuscany, Italy, where she was an Au-Pair for a family for a year.
During this time Bonan immersed herself in the Italian way of life, customs, and traditions while teaching English to her neighbours. This adventurous educational and cultural exchange allowed her to fall in love with all things Italian.
Since this Castiglion Fiorentino adventure, she has continued her full-time studies at UWinnipeg, and is in her third-year of an interdisciplinary linguistics degree.
“For me personally, the UWinnipeg Italian language program exposed me to opportunities I would not have seen otherwise,” said Bonan. ‘I had tremendous amount of support from my professor, Rosaria Moretti-Lawrie, and the Department of Modern Languages, which makes my love for languages grow even stronger. Taking a language course at the UWinnipeg with small classes ensures a lot of engagement and offers many opportunities outside of school.”
While in Winnipeg, Bonan makes time for her Italian community. She volunteers weekly at the Dante Alighieri language school as well as being a part of the executive board for the Italian pavilion at Folklorama.
“These scholarships are a testimony of the importance and support of Italian studies at the UWinnipeg,” said Moretti-Lawrie and Dr. Sante A.Viselli, faculty in UWinnipeg’s Modern Languages and Literature. “Organizations such as the Dante Alighieri Cultural Society; The Italian Canadian Foundation of Manitoba; the Sons of Italy; and the Italian government enable students to pursue their studies in Italian, and even take part in summer exchange programs in Italy, like this Italian Cultural Institute scholarship given to Chelsea.
