The story of Amanda Knox is about to be put back in the spotlight, thanks to the new Netflix documentary Amanda Knox , out Sept. 30. As many will remember, back in 2007, Knox became an international sensation when she was accused of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in their Italian apartment with her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito — a crime for which both Knox and Sollecito were later exonerated. Many people might not recall, though, what led Knox to be in Italy in the first place, but it all comes down to where Amanda Knox went to college. The study abroad program she participated in through her university led her to Italy, and clearly, the decision to go abroad had a massive impact on her life.
Many of the details of Knox's life have been lost in the shuffle of the media frenzy surrounding her potential involvement in Kercher's murder, but, before Knox was a tabloid staple, she was just a regular American college student who wanted to study abroad after spending two years at the University of Washington in her home state. The Netflix doc recounts how, as an Italian major in her junior year of college, Knox chose to study abroad in Italy, and instead of going there through a rigid program, Knox chose an independent study program in Umbria. She didn't, like some study abroad students do, live in a dorm with 100 other American students, but in an apartment with Kercher and a few other Italian roommates in the college town of Perugia.
One might think that, after a study abroad experience that included an arrest and jail time, Knox would abandon her original path. But, after Knox was released from prison in 2011, she returned to her original university to finish her degree, where she took writing classes and graduated sometime in 2014. Knox now works as a columnist for the West Seattle Herald. Despite her circumstances, Knox made her education a priority, and her current job proves that she clearly benefited from her time at school.
Images: Netflix
