2024 Lehigh-in-Milan with Professor Gupta

Section 1: 

This week in the corporate social responsibility course we are concluding the term with our final paper presentations. On Monday there were 3 presentations and we also discussed a Wall Street Journal article. On Wednesday we finished the bulk of the presentations. Two of the presentations were about social media and the potential negative impacts that it has had on our generation. I thought that this topic was particularly interesting because I see how social media affects people everyday, but hearing some of the more extreme stories puts things into perspective. I also thought that there were interesting questions raised about whose responsibility it is to monitor social media, whether it is the job of the parents or the corporations who own these major driving social media platforms. 

 

Section 2: 

This was the last week of the internship seminar with Professor Swain and Dr. Gupta. For the first part of the class we learned about interview preparation and how to make good impressions and come up with interesting and solid responses to questions. This was a very important class as I am currently going through the interview process at multiple companies for internships in the summer of 2025. Once we completed an activity practicing answering interview questions we moved onto our final presentation. My group presented on race and ethnicity in Italy while most other groups opted to talk about sustainability and how Italy is trying to be more environmentally conscious. 

 

Section 3: 

This week at my internship we finished making our last video. We decided to do something slightly more fun than showing houses. We were doing things that Americans have to know about before coming to Italy. Some of the things that we touch on are how there is a lack of ice in water, you have to way for both water and the bathroom, no flip flops are allowed, there is very little personal space in public settings, and finally, people smoke a lot and will not move for you, so you have to weave through people constantly. Today we had our first and last lunch with our coworkers and I got a delicious diavola pizza. 

 

Section 4: 

Over the weekend my friend and I went to Barcelona. I had never been to Spain before so this was a really cool, interesting, and great experience. The first night we got food in one of the outdoor markets which was a really unique experience. The next day we decided to wake up early and explore as much as we could. Our first stop was the zoo where I got to see my favorite African animal. We then walked into the city center for lunch and were able to look around and walk around the smaller streets in the city center. Overall, I think that this was my best experience in Europe and I loved having the opportunity to see a new country and it be so close to home. 

My favorite animal in the world!

At the national museum in Milan

The beautiful ceiling at the museum

View of Barcelona.

This week in Professor Gupta’s corporate social responsibility class we completed our final papers and presented our findings. While this project took a lot of time and effort, I thoroughly enjoyed it. My group researched the topic of cancel culture, which is not something I had given very much thought to in the past. Through extensive research and discussion with my group, we were able to put together a product that we are all very proud of. I think that this project taught me a lot about critical thinking and research. It had been a while since I had done such a big group project, but I enjoyed working with my group members and hearing their thoughts as we made our way through the project. Overall, it was a very positive experience. 

This week in Professor Swain’s internship seminar we completed our final project presentations. My group decided to research sustainability in Italy. Specifically, we wanted to learn whether Italians are personally invested in sustainability efforts or if it is all driven by regulation. We found that it really takes both of these components to successfully create sustainability. Italy’s government creates a lot of regulations and even incentivizes sustainable practices through things like tax cuts. However, Italians also drive the cause out of personal motivation. This research helped me understand what we lack in America and gave me some ideas on how to live more sustainably. I enjoyed this project and working with my group. 

Given that this was my last week at my internship, I have done a lot of reflection on my time at G2Q. I feel unbelievably lucky to have been paired with this company and will never forget the time I spent with them. My coworkers are fascinating and brilliant people. More than that, they are extraordinarily kind and thoughtful. They have taught me so much. On Wednesday night we all went out to get drinks. We talked about a lot of things – from my time here this summer all the way to American politics and the war in Israel (in a very polite and respectful way). It was very different than the time I spend with my friends, but it was very fun and educational. I hope that my future job has as wonderful of a company culture because it made working here so much better. 

I did not travel last weekend partly because we were all a little burnt out and partly as an opportunity to explore Milan a bit more. It ended up being a very nice weekend. On Saturday I went to the vintage market near the canals. It was a huge market and I was able to find some really nice gifts for people back home. On Sunday I went to a local spa. It was a very cool experience with all different kinds of water rooms such as a rain room, a jacuzzi, a waterfall, etc. It was a great way to relax with my friends before we all go our own ways for the rest of the summer. I am very grateful to have had so many different experiences through my travels this summer and it was so much fun doing it with friends. 

We finished our final presentations and paper in class this week as our Milan experience is sadly coming to an end. While it is hard to say goodbye, finally completing our research papers was extremely rewarding. My group’s paper was on employee activism, and how we think corporations should approach and respond to the topic. Over the course of our CSR class, we have discussed the topic of employee activism countless times, so my group was glad we had a solid background in the concert before formulating an opinion of our own. We each looked into different case studies, two regarding companies who handle employee activism poorly, and one we considered having a good relationship with employee activism. Demonstrating examples of both sides I think gave the class a better understanding of my group’s perspective. 

In our internship seminar class, we also gave our final presentation. This time my group conducted research on the “Made in Italy” label and the cultural implications that come with it. I specifically did research on Italian nationalism in their fashion, a topic very interesting to me since we have now lived in one of the fashion capitals of the world for the last 8 weeks. I was surprised to learn about the fierce competition between Italy and France, and how the two countries have battled it out to become Europe’s “trendsetter” for fashion since the 17th century. I may be biased now, but personally I feel Italian dress better than the French!

My experience at Exa Futures was so welcoming and extremely rewarding! I was lucky enough to really immerse myself into my internship in terms of building friendships and the work I completed. I was almost surprised how trusting my company was in terms of the responsibility I was given and the projects I worked on. As a final goodbye, my co-workers and I went out for a final lunch together to a restaurant right by our office, where they surprised me with a mini moka pot as a gift! One of Exa Future’s clients is a major coffee company, Lavazza, so they also brought some of their coffee grounds to take back to the US.

For my final weekend, I actually stayed in Milan as I wanted to make sure I did not leave parts of the city unexplored. The first thing we did Saturday morning was go to the vintage markets alongside the canals. I actually have not been in Milan long enough on Saturday to ever go to these markets yet, so I was super excited to finally see them. We also went to this spa in Milan called QC Terme, which is famous for their “rain room”. There are a bunch of different saunas and water therapy experiences, but the “rain room” plays cinematic footage of thunderstorms while pouring water from the ceiling. It was a relaxing way to spend my last weekend in Italy after traveling so much.

This week in our CSR class we finished our presentations. I found it to be very valuable to research my topic and present it to the class, as it helped me develop skills I will use in the future when I take on a career. I also learned a lot of new information as it pertained to the other group’s research topics, and found their presentations to be very interesting. They helped to expand my knowledge on important topics, ones that I usually wouldn’t pay much attention to. As the class ends, I am proud to say that my skills in research have improved, as well as my general knowledge as it pertains to CSR. I feel like that I am much more knowledgeable than I was before, and can start to embrace debate while defending my positions in the right way, rather than making uninformed decisions based on prior knowledge.

In Professor Swaine’s class, we got important information as it pertained to interviews for our upcoming internship applications. As someone who has already been through this process, I felt that the ideas we learned would have been very valuable for me to know at the time, and I will keep these concepts in the back of my mind as I progress in my career and have to go through more interview processes. We also made presentations in this class as well, primarily as they related to the culture and background of Italy. My group chose sustainability, and we did a lot of research on Italy’s efforts to make a more sustainable environment, and how they are working to push back against climate change. Overall, we found their efforts to be mostly successful, but the income of Italy remains an issue when it comes to individual emissions, as it is harder to afford higher end electric transport.

As my internship wraps up, I felt myself sad to say goodbye to my coworkers. I have developed strong and true relationships with them, some who don’t even speak a lick of English. I feel as if I contributed a lot to the company as well, and am proud of what we managed to accomplish. Overall, we finished much of the data entry assigned to us, and were able to complete it much faster than the current employees were able to, as they have a lot of other tasks on their plates. I also learned more of how the business operates, and can say comfortably that I could describe the functions of the business I interned for in an interview environment, practically and efficiently explaining the experience I gained. It was a very fun experience, and I consider myself blessed to be able to partake in it.

This past weekend we traveled to Split. This was one of the first times this trip I felt I was on a true vacation, and it was amazing. It was a great way to end the trip, and am happy to say that I have developed many meaningful relationships while I have been here. Split was beautiful, and it was interesting to see mostly tourists in the area we traveled. I did not have much difficulty acclimating to the environment, as it was something I have done before, and I felt proud of myself that I was able to adapt so quickly. We spent time on the beach as well as embarking on a small cruise while we were there, and it was something that I will remember for a long time. It was the most fun experience that I had while I have been abroad, and am happy I got to end the trip on a high note.

This week in Professor Gupta’s Corporate Social Responsibility class, we wrapped up our semester’s worth of work with presentations.  There were 10 groups and each group had a different topic.  My group’s topic was Artificial Intelligence and Corporate Social Responsibility.  We were able to identify several issues that we thought could potentially affect society as a result of artificial intelligence.  We also questioned how much responsibility companies have to protect people from the negative effects of the products they’re releasing, specifically regarding AI.  I thought that my peers presented well and that hearing their presentations gave a lot of insight into topics important to the final paper that my group had to do.  I also thought that many of the presentations allowed for great discussion after them regarding people’s personal experiences and expectations.

In our Internship Seminar class this week, we also had a day of presentations.  Before we began those, we did some interview preparation that I thought was really useful to prepare me for when I begin applying for domestic internships.  It was good to hear my peers’ responses and critique them because it also helped me realize things that I missed or should add as well.  I enjoyed seeing where all of my peers had gone to do their research and seeing the pictures they took.  I thought it was also surprising how many different pieces of information were found during the research because most groups presented on the same topic.  Overall, I thought that the class was really helpful in my acclimation to Italy and my internship as well as understanding the differences in culture.

This week at my internship was another slow one, which I wasn’t mad about.  We received a request to create more graphics to be sent out in next month’s newsletter and be posted onto LinkedIn.  We also edited some posts that were to be in both Italian and English to make sure that the translation was correct.  We got to see the first newsletter with some of our work in it go out and it was so great to see our work put into action.  I said my goodbyes to all of my coworkers and ate lunch with them and played foosball one last time.  I really enjoyed my experience at LG Electronics and am glad that I got this opportunity. 

This weekend, I stayed in Milan once again and was able to go to some places that I had previously missed.  Saturday, I spent about 5 hours just exploring and eating around Milan.  I went to Brera, and saw the Teatro la Scala and the botanical gardens and I saw the statue of Leonardo DaVinci as well.  After, I saw the Columns of San Lorenzo and passed by some takeaway 5 euro spritzes that I couldn’t pass up.  I went out to dinner twice with people from this program  and aperitivo twice as well, once with the other interns.  I also went to this famous panzerotti place by the Duomo that I really enjoyed.  I thought that eating and partaking in Italian culture was the perfect way to say goodbye.

 

Some gelato that I had

A plant at the botanical garden

Some of the pasta from one of my dinners this week

A picture from Brera

This week in Professor Gupta’s class everyone presented their final presentations on the topic they were given for their research paper. I learned many things about a variety of topics including cancel culture, the negative effects of social media, companies and their environmental disasters, etc.. I enjoyed hearing about everyone’s research, findings, and final opinions on their topic. We also discussed Kiara’s Wall Street Journal entry about Boeing and whether they should plead guilty to the charges they are faced with or go forward to trial. This article was very alarming. If pleading guilty would be their best option to keep prosecutors from finding more evidence against their wrongdoing then what else are they hiding?

In Professor Swain’s class, we started off with a few tips from Professor Gupta about interviewing for future internships/jobs. We then did an activity where we answered sample interview questions with a partner without any preparation which was kind of difficult as I am someone who likes to be fully prepared when it comes to that kind of thing. We then went into our group presentations about the topic of our choosing regarding some aspects of Italian culture. I learned a lot about Italian sustainability considering there were so many presentations on the topic (mine included). It was also interesting to hear about the “Made in Italy” certification as well as how race and stereotypes play into people’s lives here in Italy.

In Sophia and I’s internship this week, we did all of the usual activities but were invited to get lunch on Monday with our boss and with a few of our coworkers on Wednesday which was very nice. We also went to an event on Tuesday after class where our boss, Donato was hosting a Q&A with clients (or potential future clients it was hard to tell since everyone was speaking in Italian). I enjoyed spending time with them outside of the work setting and am starting to get sentimental about leaving. Our last day in person was Wednesday so we sadly had to say goodbye and I will miss working with everyone greatly as they were so friendly and welcoming toward Sophia and me. 

This past weekend was pretty relaxing because I just stayed in Milan, walked around, and did homework. On Friday, Sophia and I went to the QC Terme Milano Spa since Milan is known for its spas. We got massages, swam in the pool, and laid out in the sun. We also ate lunch there and got a free apertivo which was really nice. This morning I went to see the inside of the duomo for the first time since coming here! It was beautiful on the inside and we also got to see the views from the terraces and although there a lot of construction you could still see a decent view of the city. Tonight we are going to Bar Basso, which is the birthplace of the Negroni Sbagliato, and I am very excited! Overall, I am very grateful for this program and all of the new friends and memories I made along the way 🙂

This week in Prof. Gupta’s class each group presented their research and opinions on their assigned topics. It was interesting to hear all of the different issues each group researched, and what their take on each issue was. It was ultimately like an overview of most of the topics we have discussed throughout our time in Milan, so it was a great way to reflect on what we have learned. My group specifically researched whether or not ESG-investing has a future.This challenged one of the most conflicting topics we talked about, which was whether companies should prioritize ESG or profit. However, research allowed me to realize a different question that was possibly more important – is ESG profitable in itself? We decided that it was, and that ESG-investing does have a future. I will be interested to see how this evolves in the future, and if our prediction is correct.

 

In our last internship seminar of the trip, we discussed interview skills and then shared presentations for all of our italy-based research questions. Prof. Gupta was very helpful when talking about the do’s and don’ts of interview skills. I also realized that I have a lot of practicing to do to prepare for upcoming interviews that I will have to do in the coming year. My main focus will be to prepare genuine and intelligent questions to all questions that could be thrown at me, as well as think up some good questions to ask at the end of every interview. The presentations for Prof. Swain’s portion of the class was also interesting – we learned a lot about the sustainability of Italy.

 

Although I am working through the end of the week for BoutiqueNB, my last day in-person was on Tuesday. Since my boss left for a trip on Wednesday, Tuesday was the last day that all of us would be together working from her apartment. I was very bittersweet because although I am so sad to leave the company and the people I worked with, I am so grateful to have had such a wonderful experience working here. For our last day, me and the other intern took my boss and her nine year old son out to lunch. We ended up spending the whole afternoon together, running to a few apartments and also getting coffee. I had such an amazing time working here and highly value the lessons I’ve learned and relationships I’ve developed in my time here.

 

I can’t believe it’s already our last week in Milan! It has been such an amazing experience – I would start it all over again if I could. Last weekend, Sophie and I met up with our friend in Venice. We spend Saturday at Lido, the nearby beach, and Friday night and Sunday morning exploring the city. One of the highlights of the trip was the gondola – we felt that we didn’t really do Venice if we didn’t overpay for a gondola ride. Our driver let us drive the boat! Overall, Venice was the best way to round out this trip. Going home will be bittersweet – although I can’t wait to see my family and friends again (and have access to ice and free water), I will miss Milan and European life a lot. I’ve learned so many lessons that have grown me as a person and a student, and I will carry these lessons with me for the rest of my life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CSR
This week in our CSR class we got to present our topics for our research papers. I was really happy with how my group performed because I think we all took the EY video we watched a while ago to heart. We all PAUSED, did not say like, and tried to keep the presentation interesting. I definitely think that I will try to translate some of the public speaking methods from that video to future presentations and networking events. I thought it was really interesting to hear from everyone’s research topic, as it really encompassed the forefront of our class in a short period of time through various examples. I’m happy that I got to part-take in a class like this, because it opened my eyes on how to see businesses differently, and of course to start reading the Wall Street Journal daily.

Internship Seminar
This week’s internship was very thought-provoking. It was very interesting to listen to everyone’s different topics and perspectives on cultural aspects of Italy. This internship seminar encouraged me to reflect more about the surroundings and how I interacted with people in Italy. It made me understand the different work-environments and cultures of the United States and here in Italy. While I didn’t have a formal office experience, listening to everyone speak about their experiences resonated with me. I found this course valuable because I got to learn more about myself and how I would act in a workplace. I understood my tendencies and aspirations and what motivated me to pursue certain goals.

Internship
This week for my internship, I focused on completing Step 8 for the toolkit related to their Trash2Treasure project. Prior to working on completing this project, I had the opportunity to meet with a leading professor and researcher in the field from Tunisia named Prof. Mohamed Banni. He has done extensive research in the field of microplastic in marine life and the ingestion of microplastics by marine life. He provided some tips on how to better understand and identify microplastic; it was really an insightful conversation. I also added an appendix and figures for people to better classify the microplastic when evaluating it in the field. Additionally on Tuesday, Domenico invited us again to the Politecnico to see one of the labs there from his professor while he attended the university. It was really interesting to see the differences in labs from the United States and Italy.

Cultural Immersion
Last weekend a small group of us decided to fly to Split, Croatia. This was a great way to end the trip. It was my first time visiting and I already want to go back. The country was super tourist friendly and safe. The beaches were a little too rocky for my liking but the water was perfect, as well as the weather. Moreover, the food in Croatia was actually pretty good because I wasn’t really sure what the food would be like there. I thought it was really interesting that during our time there, there were so many Australians visiting Split. It was almost overwhelming. Nonetheless, I plan to go back there in the near future. Two and a half days was not nearly enough time to spend in Croatia. I am truly grateful for the experiences and memories that I have made on this trip and will cherish them deeply.

The boys on the boat

Sunrise in Split Promenade

Walking to the beach

Majestic EasyJet

This week in Professor Gupta’s corporate social responsibility class, we presented the final projects we had been working on for the summer. My group presented on public corporations and their environmental disasters. We enjoyed learning about different natural life disasters and brainstorming possible solutions. We think that our solutions, though they may be more complex to implement, should be thought about to truly stop these disasters in the future as they recur over and over. Also, I enjoyed learning about what other groups had spent time researching, specifically the group that presented on AI and the future. I am very interested in what AI will do, so seeing what a group thought was very insightful.

During the internship seminar with Professor Swain and Professor Gupta, we had the opportunity to interview each other and practice some common behavioral interview questions. I found this experience invaluable in relating the answers to some accomplishments from this summer. Not only this, but we got to present on the projects we had been working on for a couple of weeks now. My group and I enjoyed exploring Milan and learning about its sustainability practices. This enhanced our understanding of global environmental initiatives and allowed us to see firsthand the innovative approaches Milan is taking. Additionally, my group mates’ interactions with their friends and coworkers gave us a deeper insight into what Italian citizens think of sustainability initiatives.

During my internship, I improved our application process for business angels by adding automation that works for our family-style membership with differing prices from the standard and business models. This enhancement streamlined the workflow and reduced the time spent on manual entry, making the process more efficient and user-friendly. Following this, I wrote an algorithm that added the current daily metrics to a new column in a spreadsheet while maintaining the formatting. I’ve set this to run daily so they will always have a running list for each weekday of the year. This daily update ensures the team has accurate and up-to-date data for their analysis and decision-making processes, significantly improving our data management system. Ultimately, I have loved my internship with IAG and hope to stay in touch with all my colleagues in the future.

Finally, during our last week in Italy, we traveled to Split, Croatia. A big group of us decided we wanted to go to a beachy place on our previous weekend after visiting most of Italy’s iconic cities. It was a weekend to remember as we arrived from our 6 am flight at 8 am in Split and took a taxi to where our Airbnb was located. Since we couldn’t check in immediately, we went out for breakfast, where we found most of the standard American breakfast foods. It was interesting to see that difference from Italy. After breakfast, we settled in and headed to a beach club for the day to get into the ocean. It was a beautiful day, and the water did not disappoint. We spent most of the day there and then had a delicious steak dinner close to our Airbnb. The following day, we decided to go to a boat party, which was a lot of fun. We had a great time dancing and swimming in the ocean. After a long day, we had another steak dinner and eventually headed home at 8 am on Sunday. Overall, it was a great weekend trip to end the program.

For Professor Gupta’s Corporate Social Responsibility course, we ended by having our group presentations and crafting our research paper on our CSR topic. My group’s topic was “social media and its negative impact.” I am very glad I got this topic because it is extremely relevant to my life. Not only am I a user of social media, but almost all of my friends and family members are as well. I always knew that there were a lot of negative impacts of social media; however, by doing this research paper, I was able to develop a completely deeper understanding of the significance of the impact social media can have on users. I now have a different view of social media as I am more aware and conscious of the harm it can have on others. Fortunately for me, I am not on social media enough to experience the negative impacts to a large extent. I think I realized that social media was hurting my mental health at quite a young age, and I therefore decided to not engage fully in it. I am extremely glad that I was able to have that self control, but I realize this is more difficult for others who get addicted to the apps. I also enjoyed listening to other groups’ presentations and I was able to gain something from each presentation. On Monday, I specifically enjoyed the presentation on cancel culture because I find that topic quite interesting. On Wednesday, I enjoyed the presentation on the gender pay gap.  

For Professor Swain and Gupta’s Internship Seminar Course, we started by going through an interview preparation session led by Professor Gupta. This was very helpful because unlike some of my other classmates, I have not had many interviews. Additionally, the majority of the interviews that I have had were very casual and not for “real” jobs. What surprised me was that the question of “tell me about yourself” was the one that Professor Gupta saw the most students struggle with. It seems like such an easy, straightforward question, but I understood how challenging this question can be once I tried to answer it. Moving on, I will continue to think about this question and come up with the best answer I can. Then, we presented our group projects. My group focused on waste management in Italy and how successful these waste management efforts have been for the environment. After researching and presenting, it is clear that Italy has significantly better efforts when it comes to waste management than the US does. 

In my internship this week, it was unfortunate that my boss was out of town. I wish I could have seen her and gone in person for the last week, but instead, I worked from home. I continued to write articles for the Suitefood website about the benefits of their main product, Coccola. Some of these benefits include natural hydration, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and proteins. I then went more into detail for each of these properties. Emmanuela’s hope is that customers will read these articles on the website and therefore want to buy products. Additionally, I created a video where I stated my name, where I am from, and why I love Coccola so much. This video will also go on the website as a “customer review” of sorts. Then, I had my friends try Coccola so that they could also create a review video. Emmanuela is trying to market in the US, so she wanted to have videos of Americans who have tried her product on the website.   

This weekend, I headed to Split, Croatia. I had never been to Croatia before, so this was a very exciting trip for me. I really enjoyed the city of Split because it is right on the water, there are many things to do, and the city is small enough that it is very easy to walk around. We took a bright and early plane out of Milan at 6am Friday morning. Upon arriving in Split, we walked around the city and got breakfast. After eating, we walked to a beach club where we spent most of the day. The walk to the beach club was 30 minutes, right along the shore. It was extremely beautiful because the water in Split is bright blue. At the beach, I spent my time either swimming in the water or sleeping on the chair. It was the perfect, relaxing day I needed after all my work from the two projects. Then, we went to dinner and had ourselves a night. On Saturday, I woke up late due to the festivities that went on the night before. We got a quick bite to eat before heading out on our 6-hour booze cruise. The cruise was a perfect way to see the beauty of the Adriatic Sea. The boat took two stops for us to swim. My favorite part was jumping off the top of the boat, about 15 feet above the water. The long boat tour really tired me out, so I did not partake in any partying on Saturday night. We woke up for yet another early flight back to Milan on Sunday, so I spent my Sunday catching up on sleep and finishing my projects. Since I love Italy so much and cannot leave, I will spend next weekend in Venice, but I probably won’t write a blog post about it. I am forever grateful for this amazing experience due to the places I have been, lessons I have learned, and friends I have made.