Victoria Hawk's Blog Post #8: July 4, 2024 | 2024 Lehigh-in-Milan with Professor Gupta

This week in the CSR class, we started as we morally do with discussing WSJ and sharing our opinions for the first half of class. In the second half of class on Monday, we discussed the Apple case study that we had to read for homework and wrote a summary of it. We got into our groups and answered the questions on the worksheet together. We had to watch a movie called Erin Brockovich for Wednesday’s class and answer questions about it. This was one of my favorite assignments we have been assigned for this class. The movie was fascinating, and answering the questions afterward helped give me a better opinion of what I think of the topics and characters discussed in the movie. I look forward to class on Wednesday to discuss the film and questions and hear what others think about it.

In the internship seminar class this week, we started the class by recapping the networking event we had on Thursday and how it went. Instead of having our regular class on Tuesday, we had the networking event on Thursday. We then proceeded to switch gears and focus on how to prepare for future interviews and update our resume, including Lehigh in Milan. Professor Gupta stated to the class that our resume is “your brand” and something to help you stand out in the interviews. We need to grab people’s attention, and Lehigh in Milan is a great differentiator and something we should highlight to talk about in interviews. He also told us to be able to talk about what we did in our internship in depth. Do not use short, broad terms like “uploading Excel” and vague words. Our personality should shine through, and we must show that we are someone they want to work with.

In my internship, both of my bosses are traveling, so they won’t be in the office, so Jen and I worked remotely this week. They gave us a heads-up last week so they could tell us the work and tasks we needed to get done over the course of this week, and we had the opportunity to ask questions in person. Every morning at 9:30, our boss checks in to ensure we are clear on what we are doing and if we have any questions. At the end of the day, they check in again to see our progress and what we have accomplished. I have learned that I don’t mind working from home but miss being in the office and interacting with my co-workers. I have also noticed that I am more productive at work than at home.

I traveled to 3 different locations this weekend. On Friday, I spent the day in Lake Como, and it is definitely my favorite weekend trip so far. We rented a boat for 2 hours, allowing us to see the lake well and all the beautiful scenery and properties on the lake. Our skipper stopped for 30 minutes to let us jump in and swim in the lake. The water was so amazing and refreshing that I didn’t want to get out. On Saturday, I went to Bologna and Florence, and we spent the night in Florence. Bologna is known for tortellini, so we had to try it there, and it was the best tortellini I’ve ever had! We then traveled to Florence and went to the markets we didn’t get a chance to visit the last time we were there. We loved the dinner spot so much that we went there for the first time, so we had to go back and get their famous blueberry steak!