This week, we had our first two Corporate Social Responsibility classes, and the aspect of class I enjoyed most was the WSJ discussions. The conversations we have had are what I was hoping for, as they definitely give me different perspectives to consider. On Monday, we talked about Cooper’s WSJ post about the correlation between teen anxiety and social media. An idea that stood out to me was that teens might not have more anxiety and depression; they might just be more willing to talk about it than older generations. On Wednesday, we discussed Addy’s WSJ post regarding Planet Fitness standing its ground on its policy to let people self-report their gender and use the locker room that correlates. This is a controversial and highly debated topic, and I think everyone did a great job of sharing their different opinions respectfully.
In our internship seminar this week, we had our first debate regarding the Harvard Business Review case study, “The Parable of the Sadhu” by Bowen H. McCoy, discussing whether the hikers acted ethically or not. I participated in the debate, arguing that the hikers did act ethically, which was difficult for me. It was hard for me to put myself in the hikers’ shoes and choose to act the way they did. I realized I had an unconscious assumption that, at their core, most people share the same foundational ethics. However, this case highlighted how drastically different people’s perceptions of ethics can be and how they are shaped by one’s personal life experiences.
My internship group attended the final class of a course at Politecnico di Milano, led by Professor Lanquiteri. Nine students collectively presented their final “Human Health and Environment Data Science Laboratory project,” titled “Air Quality and Green Access: Mental Wellbeing/ Cardiovascular Diseases.” The students discussed their detailed analyses to show the impact of air pollution on mental disorders, like anxiety and depression, and cardiovascular health, using simulations with different pollution levels. Politecnico di Milano is architecturally pretty, much like the rest of Italy. The building we were in had high, arched ceilings and windows, beautiful floor tiles, and views of a grassy courtyard in the middle. For the rest of this week, I worked on creating a unified modeling language diagram for the Metabolism of Cities’ future Trash2Treasure database.
After our internship seminar on Tuesday night, I went to the Lana Del Rey concert at Ippodromo SNAI La Maura, which is a horse racetrack. I was really excited about being able to get close to the stage. This concert was amazing and everyone was dressed in really cool Lana-inspired outfits. I wasn’t sure if I could make this concert because of class, but she didn’t start singing until about 9:30 pm, so it worked out perfectly. The Lehigh in Milan group attended a wine tasting event on Thursday night at Dogana del Buon Gusto. I was expecting it to be similar to a dinner, but I was surprised by how much useful information we were taught about wine. Now, I feel like I can articulate the kind of wine I like, making me way more likely to order it when out at a restaurant. After the wine tasting, my friend introduced me to two fashion students from Germany who were here for the Dolce & Gabbana Exhibition in Milan. They were the nicest people and talking with them about the differences between the United States and Germany was fun.
