Abigail Combs
Major: Neuroscience & Public Health
My name is Abigail Combs and I am a student from Binghamton, New York. I have lived in Binghamton for my entire life with my parents and younger sister, Lily. I have always been interested in the sciences and medicine, but have also loved learning about the arts, literature, and humanities. In my free time, I enjoy running, playing sports, baking, playing with my puppy, and spending time with my family and friends.
At the University of Rochester, I am studying neuroscience and public health, hoping to pursue a career in pediatric healthcare. I have interned at The Depression Center in Denver, Colorado, currently, work as a student lab assistant at Rochester’s Medical Center, have worked as a student research associate in Strong Memorial Hospital’s emergency department, and am continuing to shadow physicians at Strong Hospital. I have been involved in student government, athletic teams and clubs, Greek life, and academic clubs
While planning my academic calendar for my time at Rochester, I was fortunate enough that my humanities cluster was to be fulfilled through the Arezzo Lisio Studies study abroad program in Italy during the spring of my junior year. Traveling and cultural exploration has always been something I have been passionate about and wanted to also continue during my time in college. Well-established university education abroad programs were something very important to me in searching for schools and was extremely pleased with the way Rochester prepared those students that studied abroad.
The time spent abroad in Italy was all that I could have hoped for as an immersive, cultural, and educational opportunity. From amazing homemade food, Italian language classes, quaint cities, ancient architectural masterpieces, the most welcoming humble people, and extensive traveling around Italy with the abroad program – it truly was an amazing experience. While this was a smaller program of students, this left for a great deal of personal attention from the professors, private art history and architecture tours, and wonderful dinner and movie nights at the home of professors. Arezzo is in the heart of Italy’s Tuscany region, about an hour outside Florence, and is a beautiful walled city, where the majority of time was spent on the program. A Grand Tour to Rome and Naples, along with many on-site lecture visits added to the special time in Italy! It had always been one of my dreams to visit and study in Italy, and while the time abroad was cut short due to the virus outbreak, the time spent abroad was truly special. I cannot wait to return back to visit Italy someday!
STUDY ABROAD IN AREZZO ITALY 