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Mr. Scanlon's dedication was the backbone of what made SYA Italy so life changing. He approached each day with optimism and patience and allowed us to discover and grow on our own terms. The agroecology course was the source of my interest in ecology which is what I studied in university. Mr. Scanlon taught me to always follow my curiosity and trust it would serve me well. Thank you so so much. - Sarah '19

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Mr Scanlon became our father when we studied at SYA in 2018, he protected us with no fail, he nurtured us and kept us on the right path, he kept a strong hold and tight schedule in the beginning, but by the end with a grin allowed us all to open our wings and have a full experience in Italia knowing well we were protected by our school but most of all by his loving guidance the whole way. Mr Scanlon we love you ❤️ you’re an incredible person and you’ve made this life changing year for us possible, incredible, and so safe. We LOVE YOUUUUU happy transition to a new position! All the blessings and safety and happiness in the next period and beyond. Bégué (respect in wolof)

Yasmin

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The Hundt/Stimac family is so grateful for all the ways you inspired, encouraged, and supported Jay during his time in Viterbo (‘22-‘23). He came home a different kid in all the coolest ways, and we know a lot of that was due to your amazing leadership. You are truly one of a kind. Thanks for sharing your incredible talents with the program, kids, and families.

Best wishes!

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Pat - I know we only caught you at the very tail end of your run, but it has been obvious to all the Ciceros that you will leave behind very big shoes to fill. Thank you for your flexibility and good sense as well as being so kind to Sadie. Good luck with "decompressing" into your new role!---Nick

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Mr. Scanlon,

When asked what one of the best experiences has been in my life so far, to this day, I still mention my time with SYA in Italy. I remember being in our school decked with frescos, taking trips to visit museums to learn about art to enjoying an afternoon with an espresso and gelato while practicing Italian. It was truly a transformative experience which would not have been possible without the direction and guidance you provided the program, teachers and me personally. Thank you for all you contributed to SYA all these years!

Hope you enjoy retirement, wishing you all the best!

p.s. I am glad we got to connect again at a DC alumni event a few years ago!

Alana

IT ‘10

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There is no doubt you've left a legacy of improvement, growth, and compassion in your tenure at SYA-Italy. I didnt have the joy of your leadership as a Director but I am forever grateful for your guidance as our English teacher. You showed us more than just words and meaning, but responsibility and the potential for a better version of where we thought we could go. You told me to "Trust my Instincts" all the time. Even wrote in my goodbye sketchbook I passed around and my yearbook. And I have. I was a struggling student, grasping at how to express myself on paper. Now my writing is the one thing I am most known for in my work. It is a basic component of what I do and I would not have even tried had it not been for that spark you lit.

I am so grateful that I had a mentor like you. There are hundreds of people out in the world that you have inspired, and I am so happy I get to be one of them!

Charlotte

SYA Italy 03-04

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Italy will always have a special place in my heart thanks to your incredible leadership! SYA was so lucky to have you for 25 years, and you deserve nothing but the best moving forward! Auguri e grazie!

-Erica Ritz '08

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Hello Pat, I'll never forget your phrase "It's all fun and games until someone gets deported." And I'll never forget what you did in relation to my ancient greek class first semester. It changed my life. With love, Elizabeth Pyjov, SYA 2006

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It's hard to imagine SYA Italy without you - you were such an amazing part of all of our experiences. I'm especially grateful to how carefully and kindly you supported me when I was struggling with culture shock and being away from home. I always knew you were there for me, without being overbearing, and you helped me navigate a hard conversation with my host mother that ultimately led to a wonderful relationship. For years, I kept the translation you wrote to me on my bulletin board, as a reminder of how to navigate through challenges with openness and kindness.

I'm wishing you all the best in the next chapter! I very much hope that our paths cross again but if not, I hope that you and your family know what an incredible gift your leadership was to all of us students.

Grazie mille,

Anne Stuckey 06-07

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Well goodness - how’s retirement gonna top SYA Italy ?! Glad I got to visit twice while you were there. Thanks for the fun writing assignments and for your patience and guidance. Pretty sure I would have been kicked out if you didn’t like me just a little bit. Ha … ha.

Enjoy the new path of your journey - will miss and hold dear SYA Italy 02-03 forever

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You made us a home in Viterbo, in ways both tangible and inexpressible: your care for the community and our host families, your passion for the city, your support of talented teachers, and your interest in all of us young wanderers…!

Thank you for setting the stage for our 360º education. Thank you for greenlighting every weekend adventure Ryan Caro could meticulously plan. Thank you for listening with compassion when things were hard. Thank you for pulling off Italian Thanksgiving in Florence and every other element of balancing la vita italiana-americana.

Here’s to a happy journey onward!

Peregrine ’05-'06

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I cannot imagine SYA without you - from day one, you made all of us feel a sense of belonging and responsibility to care for each other as a community. Your hilarious stories, facility in switching between languages and culture, and unfailing belief in the power of experiential learning made SYA a turning point in all of our lives. Occasionally I'll find one of the missives you sent home to my parents; now, as a parent myself, I am struck by the way you cared for each of us - knowing that our families put an enormous amount of trust in you to keep us safe and empower us to thrive. Thank you is not enough, but it will have to do. Alla prossima!

Con tanto affetto, Ariel (Royer) Ackermann 2006-2007

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Thank you so much to the one and only Mr Scanlon!!

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Thank you so much to the one and only Mr Scanlon!!

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Thank you for being the best director SYA could ever ask for. You made my (and my whole semester's) experience so special and amazing as it was. Your humor, strategy and levity will definitely be missed and SYA will not be the same.

Best, Domi and Simon

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It is rare to find such grace, excellence, kindness, and skill in one package -- and here it is in Pat Scanlon. Your leadership has touched my daughter's life, as it has doubtless touched so many over your tenure.

Thank you -- and to Linda -- for giving such great gifts to these youth. And enjoy your next chapter!

With admiration and appreciation,

John Adams

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Ahhh I’m tearing up! I can’t begin to describe the impact SYA Italy has had on my life, or the role you played in that. It was such an honor to be one of your students and to experience firsthand the grace of your leadership and your deep passion for everything SYA stands for!! Thank you for always going above and beyond and for pouring so much of yourself into creating a true home away from home for all of us.

I’m so excited for you and your family and am praying for you during this upcoming transition and new season of life. Best wishes, and sending all my love!!!

—Camila Fraser ’22

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Hey Mr Scanlon,

Congratulations on retirement. Sya is an amazing experience that changed my life and I’m sure it did for so many others. Thank you for all that you did and best of luck in the future!

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Signore Scanlon,

I recently heard about your retirement, and I couldn’t let the moment pass without sending my warmest congratulations and sincere thanks.

As a student at SYA Italy during the 2014–2015 year, I can say without a doubt that the experience was one of the most formative of my life. At just 17, I stepped into a world that challenged and shaped me in ways I’m still grateful for today. Your leadership played a big role in making SYA such a transformative place — not just a school abroad, but a true community, a home, and a launching pad for lifelong growth.

What always stood out to me — even long after graduation — was how deeply you cared for each and every one of us. Whether we were current students or alums returning to visit Viterbo, you welcomed us back with the same warmth and generosity. That sense of continued connection made SYA feel truly timeless, and it meant so much to know that we were never just passing through.

Thank you for all the energy, dedication, and heart you poured into the program over the years. You helped build something truly special — and it made a lasting difference in my life, as I know it did for so many others.

Wishing you all the best in this next chapter — may it be filled with joy, rest, and everything that brings you fulfillment.

With love,

Samantha Smith '15

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I may have been one of your more complicated students in one of your more complicated years, but 06-07 was a year I will never forget.

Thank you for your guidance and attention during such rampant adolescence. The care you and Linda provided me helped shape the person I am today.

Much love from NYC,

Lincoln

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Thank you to Director Scanlon, and wife Linda, on their amazing leadership of SYA Italy. Our son enjoyed an incredible semester Spring ‘25. Pat, it was your attention to detail, excellent communication, care, concern and love of SYA that permeated throughout the staff at SYA Italy. We are indebted to you and Linda for your years of support to this program. Thank you for making our semester a success from an appreciative parent!!!! Best wishes in your retirement!

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I use Italian every day, but it’s really the English classes that I remember from SYA. Dante’s Inferno in a beautiful dual edition; Mark Twain’s Innocents Abroad; my beloved Baron in the Trees. I still have every copy over twenty years later. I still remember the essays— on laundry hanging on the lines; on the strangeness of the quotidian so far from home. My life has been so much richer, so much vaster, for SYA and that year of English. With the greatest auguri, a toast to Mr. Scanlon. - Judy ‘04

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Thank you for everything! My SYA experience was 1000% times better because of your guidance and kindness. All the best in your future adventures! - Liza Ayres '13

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Professore Scanlon,

I just want to send my thanks for everything you brought to my year (2006) of SYA Italy and everything I'm sure you've brought in the time since. You and the rest of the SYA Italy 2006 staff changed the course of my life for the better, and I will always appreciate the guidance and grace you gave to me at such a young age. Well wishes for the next stage and congratulations on an amazing tenure.

Auguri!

Marcus Strong (IT'06)

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Signore Scanlon,

I wanted to say thank you for your dedication to SYA Italy for over twenty years. Thank you for taking us students in like family while we were in Viterbo. Your positivity, enthusiasm, and support always meant the world, and it is a major reason why I can look back so fondly on my SYA experience. To this day, I hear you encouragingly saying “Ce la fai, Emily!” in my head every time I need a little extra push.

You made Viterbo truly feel like home, and it still feels that way whenever I return. I hope to see you next time I am there! Un bacione!!

Emily Ham ‘18

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Signore Scanlon,

Thank you for being such an amazingly beautiful human. You are one of the most profoundly graceful, immensely caring and abundantly loving human's that I've ever encountered. I will do my best to make it over to Italy to see you and hug you in person for all you've done for me while in SYA and beyond. I'm tearing up writing this because TVTB! Thank you for all the lives you've touched, but most importantly - thank you for the imprint you've left on my life and spirit. - India

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When I'm in my 60s, I hope to look back and see that I have built something in my career as incredible as SYA Italy! Congratulations and I hope you enjoy going back to teaching. :)

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Saying goodbyes with matching hats (May 2018)

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SYA Italy completely changed the trajectory of my life. Thank you for taking such gentle care of so many students as we explore all the amazing things that this world has to offer.

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May 2018, Katie, Pat, and Pat's friend finishing up the end of my capstone walk along the Via Francigena 

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It's hard to sum up the impact of Mr. Scanlon on SYA Italy. I'll share only a few of my favorite moments from the year to capture his passionate, caring, infectious spirit that shapes the SYA Italy campus inside and out. One day another student and I went to get milk from a local farm to make cheese in class. We woke up early, hopped in the ScanVan, and Mr. Scanlon behind the wheel, drove to Bagnoregio. The milk spilled everywhere, and it was indeed one of the best moments of my year. In agroecology, one day I stayed late to help clean up. It was that moment after class in which Mr. Scanlon convinced me to do his dream project, walking the Via Francigena, as my capstone. The attached photo shows us almost to Rome on my last day of walking, which of course, Mr. Scanlon insisted he needed to join. In Palermo Sicily, I received a call on the phone one afternoon, and Mr. Scanlon said "BYOF-bring your own fish" to the piazza outside the hotel. So I went to the market, bought a fish, and ended up sharing fresh fish with almost all SYAers in a piazza that night, all'improviso, as we say in Italian, thanks to Mr. Scanlon's curious, passionate, creative outlook on a year abroad. I'm writing this gratitude from Palermo Sicily, back now to study, and inspired directly by Mr. Scanlon's infectious love for Italy and desire to teach everyone the joys of immersing yourself in a new culture. We are so lucky to have had a director so committed to the program mission, innovation, and building a strong relationship with the community. I'll always remember coming up with 100 nicknames for Mr. Scanlon as a grade on our last night in Viterbo. It's this type of relationship that changes lives, and I am certainly a different person thanks to Mr. Scanlon's investment in me during my time in Viterbo.