# @macjournalism on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DK-h-m9S45W
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/31571265-macjournalism-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/3ab57bda51.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-06-16T21:38:27.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** McCallum Journalism (@macjournalism) — https://gondola.cc/macjournalism

## Caption

Class of 2025 graduate Joe Colaleo will be taking a gap year in Italy after graduating. After realizing that he wanted to connect back with his Italian roots, he saw that taking a gap year to focus on his heritage would be his best course of action before returning to the States to major in acting. 

“I am going to stay in Rome for a year, as my father was from there, so I’m interested in studying there,” Colaleo said. “I’m going to a language school to learn Italian, and I’m also going to a culinary school to learn to cook,
and I’m using it to further my acting and film career, and then when I come back, I’ll apply to a bunch of schools like I would if I were a junior, and then go to whatever college I want.”

The idea of taking a gap year in Italy came to Colaleo halfway through his junior year, and he has been exploring that option ever since, making it a reality. 

“I thought it would be cool to just take a year off, but also, it’s important to me to connect back to my roots and where my family came from, and just learn more about that and, learn Italian to get closer with it and just find more out about myself,” Colaleo said. “Once I come back, I’d like to pursue acting, mainly film acting, but also theater and animation and voice acting, but after I go to college, I’ll probably go to Los Angeles and start working there.”

As a part of the theatre program at McCallum, Colaleo was able to create long-lasting friendships and build a community around him, which inspired him to pursue acting in college. 

“My favorite memory at McCallum has been being backstage during shows with the cast and crew, and all my friends just getting closer with people and becoming better friends and just being a community.”

Colaleo’s final advice for young students is to keep your head up and believe in yourself.

“I would say always lead with confidence,” Colaleo said. “Always enter a room, or wherever you’re going, acting like you know what you’re doing, even if you don’t, and just try your hardest to make connections and be friendly and be kind to others.”

Caption by Sophia Manos. Photo courtesy of Colaleo.

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