From Student to Staff: Reflections On My Time As A Resident Coordinator
I left my own study abroad semester experience in the Spring of 2022, with the expected feelings of sadness mixed with an undercurrent of expectation, that this was the beginning of a new season of life rather than the end of one. It wouldn’t be until I took the job as Resident Coordinator with Living & Learning, that I would begin to understand the path God had been craving for me the last few years. The paths He had opened and others He had blocked off. Those gentle promptings of faith that would lead to more travels, including a full year living in Prague teaching English.
That was a leap of faith; as I closed out my time I still couldn't articulate a clear reason for me being in Prague. The year following was marked with doubt that it all had been a waste. I tried to make more teaching jobs work, so that my experience in Prague would not be all for naught, but I kept finding myself having the same feelings of burnout and unfulfillment. Then came the job opening with Living & Learning for a summer Resident Coordinator in Rome. Another promoting and a small hope carried, and then confirmed.
It became clear to me through the interview process and as I stepped into my role that the refining of my past experiences was to specifically equip me to guide and serve these students. It was in sharing around the kitchen table the feelings of figuring out who you are away from everything you’ve ever known. It was in helping students plan bus rides from Rome to the Amalfi coast or ferries to Capri. It was in baking them cookies after long days at their internships. I suddenly could see the way God had had his hand in every season of my life to carefully equip me for such a time as this.
Rome summer 2025 program students and staff
A summertime view in Italy
Shelby and a student visiting an exhibition at The Chiostro Del Bramante.
I became an Resident Coordinator not simply because I longed to return to Rome, but because I have felt the ache of homesickness in an unfamiliar place. It was not just because I love to travel, but because I have had to figure out who I am when no one around me truly understands me. It was not just because I craved a new adventure, it was because I’ve navigated the frustrations of lost comfort as you try to go about daily life. And if all those past struggles meant that there could even be one moment where I could walk alongside someone else as they dealt with those things, it was all worth it for me.
About the Author: Shelby McCormick is a current MFA student in Creative Writing in San Francisco. Following her own transformative study abroad experience with Living & Learning in Rome, she returned three years later as a summer Resident Coordinator to guide students with their own international journeys.