Kamara St. Paul's Blog Post #2: May 28, 2024 | 2024 Lehigh-in-Milan with Professor Gupta

I would say that after seeing a couple of the WSJ posts, I was able to get a glimpse of what topics interested certain people in the course and what was important to them. From that, I can gather that not only are our conversations going to be very relevant to the issues that we are faced with daily, but they’re also going to get deep. Some of the topics were very personal, whether it be in terms of abortion or other things which helps me to tell what topics we will most likely get passionate about when discussing and debating in class. On the other hand, actually seeing Italy, there are some environmental things that I’ve noticed here that might be interesting to talk about in class. I’m curious about the waste and recycling regulations here and whether big corporations enforce recycling like other places do. In aparto alone, there are like 5 different garbage bins for different types of waste and recycling. I’m also curious to zero in on how Italian companies are improving their ESG compared to companies in the US because I feel like I’ve noticed a bigger push to be sustainable here. Especially when it comes to the way they travel here, mostly by public transportation.

I thought that today’s internship seminar was a great introduction to the course. It allowed us to reflect not only on our values, but also on the experiences that we’ve had both in the city and in the workplace this past week. I learned a lot about Italian culture that confirmed some of the things I had noticed and introduced me to things I had not yet seen. I thought it was really interesting how much Italians value companionship and bonding with their coworkers. It’s kind of refreshing to see how collaborative and fun many of them are in the office rather than competitive and to themselves as we’re often used to seeing. Those were two aspects of Italian workplace culture that really stood out to me from class. I also thoroughly enjoyed the portion where we discussed the feedback from previous Lehigh interns because I felt like that information was really valuable and helpful. In terms of my values, it really made me reconsider what side I leaned towards, especially when it came to being an individualist or collectivist. I feel like many of my feelings on the topics discussed were situational and not set.

Today was my first day interning and it really made me look forward to beginning my project and just interacting with the company more. I’m working with LG electronics which makes up a third of LG corporations and focuses on providing innovative and useful electronic appliances for both businesses as well as consumers. Their product lists, both b2b and b2c are very extensive and impressive and I was able to preview many of those products in their showroom during my office tour. I was genuinely amazed by the way they’re integrating current technology and trends into their products such as AI and work on the go. Their collaborations with fashion companies in terms of billboards and other displays were also super cool and their OLED products were so impressive. My internship is human resources and marketing based and it’s focused on employer branding strategies and promoting DEI in the workplace. My peers and I are expected to come up with activities that are to be done in the LG Milan office and a communication plan that demonstrates the activities to internal and external stakeholders. The last deliverable is creating desirable content that grabs people’s attention and draws them to LG. This all aligns with LGs mission statement which is “Innovation For a Better Life”. They elaborate on that by saying “We create a better life for people and a better future for our planet through smart life solutions.” We are trying to find innovative ways to reach consumers and people on job searches who might not have considered LG prior.

Over the weekend, IES hosted a trip to Lake Maggiore where the majority of my cultural immersion so far took place. Prior to that I had gone out to eat a few times with a combination of people from the Lehigh in Milan program as well as IES abroad students from Indiana University. Through that, I was able to try several different foods native to Italy which of course included pizza and pasta. I was able to see that the food is much more fresh here. I also went to the grocery store near aparto and was interested to see how differently those are structured. One thing that really shocked me in my first week here was the structure of the meals, breakfast being very light, then lunch, then aperitivo which I think is my favorite time to eat and then dinner. I had aperitivo with some friends in Navigli and was able to capture some great pictures and take in its bustling scene.

I was completely mesmerized at Lake Maggiore, the mountain communities that we could see from the water, the surrounding town that just screamed luxury and the 3 islands themselves. The botanical gardens were gorgeous and so was the architecture. I was shocked at all of the different species on Isola Madre that you usually don’t see together at home. I was also surprised to hear that only 50 people inhabited Isola dei Pescatori. The food that we ate on that island was delicious and gave me the opportunity to bond with 5 girls that are helping to make this trip even more special. When we arrived at Isola Bella, the palace was absolutely breathtaking. With every room I was more and more surprised by its beauty. It also gave a lot of information regarding the rich history of the islands and Italy itself. This short couple of days that I’ve been here has given me so much hope for these next 6 weeks. Side note, I was really sad to see the notification telling us to pet the peacocks after we had already left. I was considering doing it, but a friend convinced me not to lol 🙁