Sara Menand’s Blog Post #3: Week Ending June 10, 2023
(1) Academic Course on Corporate Social Responsibility
In class on Monday, we watched a documentary focused on Corporations and their impact in the world as they are beginning to be seen as “people.” This led into a discussion about whether corporations deserve rights and privileges in the same way legal people do. With that, we discussed how some major corporations are already viewed as having opinions and emotions like a natural person, and that makes the corporate situation a difficult one for consumers and the government to navigate. Following that, we mainly discussed our Wall Street Journal entries on Wednesday, specifically articles that connected with the theme of corporations having rights. This discussion topic sparked many interesting conversations and leads us into the next section of class very well.
(2) Practicum in Milan with an Italian Company
This week in internship I focused heavily on learning more about the G-WALK sensor from a product management point of view. After transferring the Informational Powerpoint from the old template to a more modern layout— and learning about the product specs while doing so— I had a chance to play around with the device on Wednesday. Along with another research intern from Spain, we began using the G-Software, the G-WALK device, and even got to test out the cognitive tests. I had lots of fun learning more about the device and how to perform various tests, and now that I have the first device under my belt, I’m excited to continue learning more about each product within the BTS Bioengineering suite.
(3) Social and Cultural Immersion through Travels in Italy and Europe
This past Sunday, a couple of us finally had the chance to stay in Milan and explore a bit while shopping around the Duomo. We had a lot of fun running in and out of stores throughout the day and got a meal right next to the Duomo for lunch. That night, a few of us also went to Pizza e Mozzarella, which we all agreed was by far the best pizza we have eaten yet on the trip.
After a week of class and internship, some of the cohort decided to go to the beach Friday during the day. The closest beach by train we found was Genoa, the coast town in Genova, Italy. While the weather wasn’t amazing, and we were all extremely tired after a long week, it was nice to have a relaxing day just laying in our lounge chairs.
That night was an early night for us because on Saturday we had the Alpine Adventure trip planned by IES. Following a quick power nap on the bus after our 6:30am departure, we woke up to the most amazing few of the Italian Alpines outside our window. We arrived first at a little adventure park in the middle part of the mountains, where we were able to try out a ropes course all throughout the trees and looking right over the edge of Mont Blanc. The three hours of workout was so much fun and we all had a great time watching each other zippine through the trees. Following that and a quick lunch (with an amazing view from the Park’s lookout), we took the bus to a hiking trail to bring us to Lago D’Arpy, even higher up in altitude in the Alps. The views just got better and better through the mile and a half hike, and the Lehigh cohort had a great time chatting while we hiked. At the lake, a couple of Lehigh students jumped in despite the freezing temperatures of the glacier lake, and we were able to sit on some rocks and enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime view. After hiking back to the trail start and getting back on the bus, we all quickly fell asleep yet again for the ride home following a packed day— and preparing ourselves for another trip the next morning (which you’ll have to wait to read about next week!).
Back in Milan, we had the amazing chance to watch the UEFA Champions League final while Inter Milan took on Manchester City. It was amazing to see the city bustling in black and blue jerseys, and Maddy, Ian, and I found a small pub on the Navigli to watch the game along with an Aperitivo. Despite Milan’s loss, it was really cool to see the football culture in the city and be able to watch right in the center of the city!
