As I wrote my first Wall Street Journal entry this week, I have learned a few valuable lessons before starting the Social Corporate Responsibility class. First, I now understand the importance of a summary to someone who has little to no background knowledge on the specific topic or article. Writing fluff can be daunting and painful to read and so I see how being brief and to the point is key to starting off an entry. Along with that, by reading my peers’ entries, I start to understand the writing quality that offers the reader more than just a surface level understanding of the article and the author’s view. I found it very helpful to see different writing styles in order to improve my own writing and am excited to continue to improve my writing. At Lehigh I sometimes find it difficult to write about assignments I have no interest in so I believe I will gain valuable writing skills by writing in different styles for different assignments that I am interested in.

I found the first Internship Seminar to be enlightening and full of impactful information. Before attending the first class, I had envisioned the class to be structured to improve our deliverables such as resume writing and networking. But contrary to my expectations, I found that the class cultivates self reflection, cultural awareness, and learning from others’ experience. All things that would not be possible taking a course in America. My favorite part of the class was sharing first impressions from the workplace with our peers. Some things I heard blew my mind but I now realize will become my new normal while working here and adapting to their culture. 

I started my internship at Off Campus Nolo which was very exciting! It is a branch off of the Politecnico di Milano University in Milan and is a creative space that focuses on social responsibility, research, and building up the community. They welcomed me and Katie in with an offering of coffee and tiramisu (which our boss made herself) and an overview of the mission. We were assigned to start working on a project called Sospesa which is a food security program that offers food donations to those in need. Since the program runs on donations, they are aware it is not sustainable as they are already experiencing problems fulfilling full orders. One of the coolest parts was that the office was located in a market. The market was filled with bakeries, coffee shops, fruit stands, and much more. Off Campus Nolo partners with those local shops to help fulfill their orders with food that is not of selling standard. I felt an instant sense of community in the market which makes the project I will be working on so much more meaningful. They also expressed to us that we have the freedom to really work on what aspect of the project that interests us most. While comforting, I do want to branch out and gain some experience with something that isn’t most natural to me. 

Traveling through Milan has been wonderful! This past weekend we traveled to Lake Maggiore where we visited 3 beautiful islands. But besides that trip, I have found wandering the streets more interesting. Every time I have walked a new place, I have been amazed by all the things I have not seen and how much there is to do. There are coffee shops on every corner, shops everywhere, and most importantly, people everywhere. Growing up in a suburban area has certainly not prepared me for being around this many people 24/7. One thing I have gotten comfortable with is people in my personal space. I am unsure how I will react when everyone starts to get really sweaty in the heat but I am adjusting!

Garden from Lake Maggiore.

Pizza with IES on the first night.

White peacock from Lake Maggiore.

Boat ride on the way to the islands.