Nathaniel Scott (Tré)
CEA CAPA Rome, Italy – Engineering
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Pre-Departure Post
Ciao everyone! My name is Nathaniel Scott and I go by Tré. I am a second-year mechanical engineering student at UMBC. I fly out to Rome, Italy in just a few days! I am so incredibly excited for this study abroad experience, and I want to thank God, family, friends, and all of the faculty who have supported me to make this possible!
For some context, I’ve always been interested in stepping off of the beaten path, and that absolutely applies to the mechanical engineering pathway at UMBC. As a freshman, I saw the proposed semester consisting of Vibrations, Machine Design, Transfer Processes, Solids Lab, AND a third year foreign language and said, “Nah”. That being said, I’ve done everything in my power to circumvent the usual route by taking everything that I can in the Winter and Summer semesters. With a little bit of magic, I’ve been able to take ten classes over Summer and Winter, saving my future self.
For my last trick, I wanted to take Fluid Mechanics over Summer 2026, hoping it was going to be offered by UMBC like in Summer 2025, but alas it was not. Just when I was about to give up on getting ahead, I remembered that my friends were going to study abroad and wanted to get me to join a class too, but I shut that idea down long ago after thinking that engineers aren’t offered classes abroad due to their STEM requirements. Yet, I gave it one last look and was able to find a single offering of Fluid Mechanics for Summer 2026…
I will be studying Fluids in Rome through the CEA CAPA Education Abroad Program! I started the process immediately, applying, gathering paperwork, emailing professors for permission to take the course abroad, managing finances, applying for a passport, all while understanding that if it didn’t go through, I would be held up a semester from graduating because I was dropping Fluids for Spring 2026, in hopes of taking it in the Summer instead.
What I want to share with you is that you need to have (true) grit. For a long time, I desired to study abroad, but gave up on the idea thinking that engineering programs abroad were rare, that I wouldn’t have a shot, and that it would be an insane risk, academically and financially. When I realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, for me and for literally every other engineering student I know, I knew I had to take a risk. I saw what needed to be done, I made a plan, I reached out to get information, I turned things in on time, I stayed cautious, but I got it done. This resolve is what will get us to where we want to go!
I am currently fighting through three finals this week (taken early due to early departure) and my next post will be from Rome! I thought that I would feel more anxious or worried, yet all I can feel is excitement at the moment, because all of the hard work is behind me. I will miss my friends and family, but I am so ready to represent my fellow MechE’s and share this awesome experience with you all!
In-Country Post #1
Hello everyone! Some time has passed and I have now been in Rome for a few days! The flight got delayed by two hours, but it was alright; I watched a movie and caught up on a lot of sleep. When we arrived at the airport, I felt wide awake and tried to take in a lot of my surroundings so I wouldn’t lose any of my stuff or miss any important signs. The airport looked exactly like it would when arriving at BWI or IAD, so it wasn’t very complicated. I got through Customs and security and found my way to the CEA CAPA Pick-Up service.
I met a few other engineering students, and we were driven to our apartment(s) in the nice neighborhood, Prati in Rome. The drive was a mixed basket, seeing things both familiar and new, relative to America. The highway felt identical, with signs, exits, and multiple lanes across the city. One of the first things I noticed was that we were going a little bit fast and I glanced at the speedometer and read 130 km/h, and I jumped for a second, thinking it was miles per hour. I quickly realized that it was fine and googled it to see that it was about 80 mph! On the way, and especially in the city, I noticed that a lot of cars are very compact, and typically electric, think Fiat. In the city, cars, along with many mopeds and motorcycles, park along the road or in a parking garage, like D.C., which saves a lot of space.
I hung out in our common space for a while until all our roommates arrived. Our apartment has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, wooden floors, A/C units per room, and a window in every room (besides one bathroom), and it is located 10-15 minutes from classes. My program offers the opportunity to stay with a local Italian family or to live amongst other Study Abroad students in the program. I chose to live with other students so that I could be around people my age in the city, discuss our different experiences and adventures, and make new memories. For the rest of the day, we walked around Rome, seeing what shops and landmarks were in our vicinity, taking in the fact that not only were we foreigners in this country, but that we would be living here for about two months.
At various points, we split off to explore our own paths, some visiting the Vatican, some getting food, some taking a nap. Personally, I went to the Castel Sant’Angelo, which is a huge castle that now functions as a museum, which was once the tallest building in Rome. Crossing the (river) Tiber, I visited the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. One cannot stress enough how many tourists are here during the Summer. After getting my fix of awe, not understanding how the Romans could’ve possibly built these structures, questioning why I’m not doing the same, I felt some irony as I approached McDonalds, curious about their menu. It was very amusing to see Spinach and Parmesan Croquettes, Croissants (My first croissant in Europe was from McDonalds), Macarons, and Tiramisu). I swear I won’t eat at McDonalds again on this trip haha, I will be seeking authentic Italian cuisine :).
Following that, I met back with my group, and we had dinner with another group of 14 students, totaling 24. My first meal was the “Insalata di Salmone”, which is translated to Salmon Salad. It was great seeing everyone attempt to order using the Italian name, before resorting to pointing and the hostess understanding and laughing. The Italians we interacted with seemed to be very accustomed to communicating via body language mixed with a bit of English, overall, very accommodating to our situation. Afterwards, we visited a gelateria to get gelato (Wow!!) and I noticed that reading the menus in Italian wasn’t all that difficult, as it was mostly similar to English or Spanish, and since then, I have learned the words for a few of the dishes, such as Insalata (Salad), Melanzane (Eggplant), or Torta (Cake).
We’ve also started our class, with most students taking Thermodynamics, Art and Architecture, or some in Fluid Mechanics like me. One day after class, we decided it was time to start cooking our own food to save money, which is very reasonable! We’ve learned that while there are many options for eating out in Rome, most people go to the store, grab ingredients, and cook for the day/meal. Following our class, a friend and I walked to the supermarket and picked up some things to cook. We (tried?) making Carbonara, using spaghetti pasta, pecorino romano cheese, eggs, guanciale, and black pepper. Guanciale is a pork that is widely known for its use in Carbonara, and it helped me assess my ability to pronounce Italian words (you should’ve seen us staring at it in the store trying our best).
It turned out to be a 6.5/10 (C+) and I will be trying again in the future. Amongst the three of us eating, we spent about 25 euro, embarrassed ourselves cooking, had a blast, and leftovers! The next day, I took the metro for the first time with a friend, and it reminded me a lot of the D.C. Metro. All the signs were very picture friendly, and it made a lot of sense, making it very relaxed and interesting to see the comparisons. It’s amazing because I probably won’t touch a car while I’m here, lots of walking!
We visited the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and discovered the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, very similar to the one in Arlington! It started to pour, so we ran to the bus stop and rode back to the city, where we met with his family for dinner. Within this first week, I truly think I’ve made major progress in my understanding of day-to-day life here and I can’t wait to share again! Ciao!