This week in our Corporate Social Responsibility class we discussed the definition of a corporation. I found it interesting to discuss what a corporation actually means and does because as a business student we talk about corporations a lot but never go into detail about this definition. We also learned about the definition and different types of corporate governance, which was a new topic for me and I thought it was interesting to learn about the various ways corporations are run. In addition we were assigned to research a Dow30 company and one of their main competitors. I was assigned Salesforce which I really enjoyed researching because it is a company that began and has headquarters in San Francisco which is where I am from, so it was fun to better understand what the company does. 

Unfortunately, I was sick this week during the internship seminar due to an infected spider bite I got over the weekend (I elaborate more in the travel section of this blog). However, for homework, we were tasked with reflecting and writing about the reading we did in class last week called the Parable of Sadhu case. I thought this story was very interesting because it created a difficult ethical dilemma that questions your morals and values. This story is about a group of hikers that are hiking a mountain that is very challenging to get to the top and they had been training for a long time in preparation. On their journey they were faced with choosing between completing their goal and saving a man’s life. In the end they decided to continue on their journey and leave the dying man to fend for himself. I strongly disagree with their decision because I think it is unethical to sacrifice someone’s life for a goal that is insignificant in the grand scheme of things and can be completed another time. 

This week my boss came back from vacation, so it was my first week working in the sector I was supposed to be rather than shadowing and helping various people around the office. At first I found it very stressful to have her back in the office because I had less freedom and I wasn’t sure if I was doing what she wanted because I was expected to do more independent research. However, I also thought it was nice to have guidance on what I should be doing rather than finding someone random who had a meeting or needed help writing emails. I am enjoying that now I am able to have more or a stable work environment and daily routine now that my boss is in the office. Furthermore, we had our first full day of work this week where we worked from 9 am to 6 pm which was a very long day for me and I was struggling to stay focused and on task because I was asked to do one research project the entire day. Additionally, when it was lunch time I was nervous to leave because it did not seem like many people took a lunch break and most people worked and ate from their desks. I think this atmosphere is very different from what I have heard about Italian culture and I was not sure how to handle this situation. 

This weekend I went to Florence for the weekend! I really enjoyed seeing the different cities in Italy and comparing Milan and Florence because they were way more different than I had previously thought. When we arrived we went to the Piazza Michelangelo which was an overlook of the entire city and was so gorgeous! The next day we spent the day exploring the city and went to the duomo, looked at the leather market and other shops, saw the river, and the Farris wheel. However, my favorite place we visited was the oldest pharmacy! This was a stunning store/ museum where they show the history of Pharmacies and how this one began as well as sell various soaps and perfumes. I really enjoyed this because it showcased the classic Italian architecture and beautiful paintings. Additionally, the next day we went back to Milan, and I met my parents who were visiting me. It was so fun to see them and we walked around areas of Milan we don’t have time to visit during the rest of the week and went to dinner at the Ralph Lauren restaurant. Additionally, when I got home I found out that I had gotten bitten from a spider in Florence and it was infected. As a result I got a fever and I had to go to the doctor to get antibiotics.