One wouldn’t expect a football player to get emotional talking about a favorite professor and a study abroad experience, but that’s exactly what happened when Huskies linebacker Zion Tupuola-Fetui shared a meaningful moment from his time at UW. It wasn’t a touchdown or a game-winning play that brought tears to his eyes, but rather the impact of a trip to Rome with Classics Professor Jim Clauss.
Tupuola-Fetui, a student majoring in Comparative History of Ideas, shared how the Rome study abroad program reignited his passion for learning, especially during a time when classes had shifted online due to the pandemic. “Jim’s enthusiasm for teaching is infectious,” he reflected at the UW’s Rome Center, where he was speaking to an audience that included UW President Ana Mari Cauce and College of Arts & Sciences Dean Dianne Harris.
His experience in Rome in 2022 left such a lasting impact that Tupuola-Fetui eagerly signed up for the program again in 2023. As he joked with the audience, he wished he could continue participating for another year, but with graduation looming, his time at school was coming to an end.
