vruzzi@newhaven.edu

Prato Staff

Director of Residential Life, University of New Haven - Tuscany Campus

Vania Ruzzi was born and raised in Pistoia, a small city 15 away from Prato. She got her High School diploma in psychology and pedagogy, then she attended the University of Florence to study English, Portuguese and Spanish language and literature. She spent six months in San Francisco, California, tutoring children. She has also spent a lot of time in Scotland. She has worked as a private teacher and has previously worked in the field of Study Abroad.
 
As Director of Residential Life, Vania manages all aspects regarding the students’ Residential Life: housing, rooming, coordination and supervising of RAs, maintenance, health and safety, dorm meetings, and more. She handles any issue or concern regarding student conduct with the campus residences. Vania is also available to the students for any sort of problem that may arise during their stay in the residence while abroad, from roommate disagreements to dealing with culture shock and missing home. Finally, she also coordinates the VIP Teaching Program.
 
Vania loves writing, music, travelling and attending live music shows. She loves visiting new places and finding out how people live in other countries. She thinks different cultures and languages are two of the most fascinating things about being human and that being different is an underestimated richness.
Her favorite city in Europe is Lisbon , Portugal, but she would love to go back to Ireland and spend some time there. Also, living by the sea makes her happy. One of her goals is to publish a good book and finally see her dream come true: do the “Route 66!”.