It’s finally time for summer in Milan! This trip is my first time traveling to Europe, and immediately upon arrival I felt a shift in culture. Even a large city such as Milan seemed to feel way less rushed and stressful as New York City, for example. Most nights so far I’ve eaten dinner out at restaurants, and the food in Italy has been even better than I could have imagined. I’ve also been to a few cafés and am learning how to order food in Italian. This Saturday, we traveled to Lake Maggiore and visited 3 islands on the lake. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to, and it was so much fun to spend time with all the other Lehigh students in the group! 

We kicked off our first class in Milan with a continuation of our discussion about how Adam Smith’s discoveries shape the foundation of our free market system. It’s very interesting to see the economy from this perspective nowadays in such a globalized and complex world. On Friday, we went to a startup company in Milan called Circularity, and they gave us a presentation about their company’s mission centered around Corporate Social Responsibility. Circularity consults companies to help them make their products and businesses more sustainable and efficient—to become part of the ‘circular’ economy. This was a good kickoff to our learnings in class, since we have discussed and read about the changing role of Corporations amidst environmental, social and political change. 

For my internship, I am working at Krein, a business to business marketing company. Thursday and Friday I worked virtually, and my first day in the office is on Monday, and I’m super excited! I am working alongside Sylvia, and we are tasked with doing market analysis and research for one of Krein’s client companies. So far, I’ve been learning about Krein as well as the company they’re consulting for, and will be starting the marketing consulting next week. I’ve learned so far that work, at least for my company, is pretty flexible compared to what I’m used to. Our boss gives us the option to come in person or work remote, so I will be doing a ‘hybrid’ work schedule. I can’t wait for what’s to come!