Study Abroad Profile

Mackenzie Martin '08

Not many students can say they’ve lived in a monastery, but for Mackenzie Martin ’08, living at San Lodovico, the historic monastery in Orvieto, Italy, was just one of many new experiences she had while studying abroad. “Living in the convent was fantastic,” says Martin, who traveled to Italy as a student in the Orvieto Semester. At San Lodovico, Martin studied the history and culture of the Italian Renaissance, gained some Italian language skills, and took studio art courses in woodblock painting and stone carving.

“There was always something adventurous to do,” says Martin, whose favorite memories include biking through new towns and visiting the Basilica de San Francesco, where St. Francis of Assisi is buried.

Martin’s cross-cultural experience helped her learn more about herself as well as the world. “Being thrown into a completely different culture required being open and vulnerable as I re-learned my identity outside of my culture,” she says.

What’s your favorite thing to do on campus?
“Tea time with my roommates every Sunday night. Also, a bunch of my friends and I started a writing group our first year (we still meet), and eating dinner with them and critiquing each others’ work on Saturday nights in the Union is great!”

What do you like best about Messiah College?
“The faculty. There are a couple of professors with whom I really feel connected, who’ve taken the time to get to know a little about me and my family history, invite me to their homes, who (surprisingly) take my work seriously, and offer good critique and good encouragement. For example, Professor Perrin taught my first-year seminar, and because of the encouragement she offered me in that class, I’ve been bringing my poetry to her for critique my whole college career, and she’s now advising my senior honors project (also on poetry).”