Inspiration from the City! The Juliet Rose Review

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Nicolette Alexandra Brito-Cruz

<i>"Hello" in your host country's language:</i> Salve! <i>Home Institution (your U.S. University/College):</i> Rutgers University at New Brunswick <i>Expected graduation year:</i> 2024 <i>Destination city & country:</i> Rome, Italy <i>Program provider:</i> John Cabot University <i>Major/minor:</i> Journalism & Media Studies and Italian Studies / Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies <i>Demographics:</i> Hispanic/Latinx, First-Generation American, First-Generation College Student <i>Future career aspirations:</i> I aspire to be a foreign correspondent. I would like to take it upon myself to be the voice for the voiceless and be the representation for communities that are so often silenced. As a Dominican-American and child of two immigrants, I know what it feels like to have to force oneโ€™s way into spaces that do not welcome them. I intend to cover important topics surrounding gender, race, sexuality, and other aspects related to identity. <i>Top 3 goals for your time abroad:</i> 1. Finding my voice as a writer is a significant aspect of what I will achieve while abroad. By going through this journey, I truly believe that different identities will emerge and perhaps reshape my current ones as well. 2. Improve my Italian language skills and fully immerse myself in the Italian culture. 3. I also hope to create meaningful and lasting relationships with the individuals I meet, which may later aid me in my career as a foreign correspondent.

While being in the eternal city surrounded by art and creative individuals, I have been inspired to stop procrastinating and finally launch a project that I have had on hold for about a year now. Rome has pushed me to finally release the Juliet Rose Review. This is a literary and art review that shares creative projects such as poems, short stories, photography, and other visual art. Because of my review, I have been able to work with a number of creative individuals and form long-lasting relationships with local and international students. I decided it was time to finally dust off my camera and put it to good use in Rome, and I am so glad I did. I am now, with the help of my friends, learning how to shoot and edit pictures. Thanks to their support, as well as that of my models, I have been able to shoot in the following locations: Ponte Sisto, Trilussa, Palazzo Venezia, Torre de Argentina, Fontana dell’acqua Paola, Gianicolo Hill, Villa Borghese, and in other locations across the Trastevere and Grotta Rossa Ovest areas. Below Iโ€™ve attached two photos from some of my favorite shoots. I hope to be able to continue photographing people when I go back home and during my future travels!