In Professor Gupta’s Corporate Social Responsibility class this week, our main focus was Corporations and their governance policies. Unfortunately, Livi and I got to the Monday class an hour late because of a train strike happening so we missed the discussion of a WSJ. However, we made it just in time to participate in insightful and thought provoking discussions about what exactly a Corporation is, its nature, and how they affect us all. I was most surprised to learn that a corporation is an artificial person and has some rights just like us as human beings, which was an idea that was pushed for in court because of the 14th amendment. During the video in the Wednesday class, I was intrigued by the idea that if every square footage on Earth was owned, then there would be less overall pollution and negative externalities because someone would always be directly affected and care to maintain their property.

In our internship seminar class, we delved into an insightful discussion on the Wall Street Journal article about Italy’s stagnant economy, as exemplified by its inefficient taxi system. I have personal experience of struggling to find a taxi and unknowingly opting for an expensive Uber, resonating with the article’s portrayal of the challenges faced by locals and visitors alike. The seminar ended with an engaging debate on goal-oriented versus process-oriented internships. I particularly enjoyed this part, as it allowed me to reflect on my own internship, which is distinctly goal-oriented. From day one, Claudio clearly outlined our final objectives, providing a structured framework that has guided my tasks and learning experiences throughout the program.

On Monday, I traveled to my boss, Claudio’s house to meet him and other members of the team for the first time. It was really neat to see and talk with them in real life and not over the computer. We worked in the kitchen for a couple hours while listening to techno music and discussing our future summer plans. Next, we went out to lunch as a team to a delicious pasta restaurant. My boss force fed me pasta until I couldn’t take it any longer. During lunch, we discussed a variety of things I wasn’t expecting including American politics, the Ukraine Russian conflict, Israel and Palestine, and Capitalism as a whole. To end the experience, we shared gelato as a team and then I tried espresso for the first time. It was disgusting…

My girlfriend Catherine, who is studying in Stockholm and Copenhagen, came to visit this week, so I made numerous travel and cultural immersion plans. On Wednesday, her first day here, we went to Osteria da Fortunata in Brera, a popular Roman pasta restaurant where they make pasta right in front of you in the windows. Usually, there is a 40+ minute wait to get a table, but luckily, because of the poor weather, we only had to wait 5 minutes. It was honestly incredibly awkward making eye contact with the workers making the food so we tried our best to avoid doing that. We got a carbonara that had thick noodles and a ragu. Everything turned out absolutely delicious! On Thursday, we took a train to Venice and talked with a Finnish couple for almost an hour, comparing the differences in our cultures.