This week in Professor Gupta’s class we watched the movie “A Civil Action”. This movie was about a legal case that took place in Boston many years ago. The case revolved around the illegal dumping of poisonous chemicals from industrial companies that lead to unexplained illness and death in surrounding communities. It was an important historical case that held companies accountable for irresponsible and neglectful business practices. For homework, we also watch Erin Brockovich, which has a similar plot about a town in california. Both movies have important messages about the power a corporation has, and how irresponsible actions can lead to harmful externalities to surrounding communities and customers. We discussed how important it is for companies to properly and thoroughly follow safety regulations, even if inconvenient, because short cuts can lead to disaster.
In our internship seminar on Tuesday, we had a resume workshop and quick lesson in presenting skills. Professor Gupta discussed what is important versus what is insignificant in a resume, and how to format everything properly. Professor Gupta also brought up a very important point that a resume is a person’s “brand”. It should be a brief and whole representation of someone’s personality and experience, both professionally and personally. Although a resume should definitely be more professionally focused, one’s experience and community involvement shows personal values and interests. I learned the importance of including an “interests” section on the resume, which I had never considered before, because it shows the human side of a person and is a nice contrast to the technicality of a resume.
My internship this week was pretty consistent with what I have been doing these past few weeks. However, I have had to work a little more than usual due to upcoming deadlines. We were very excited to open up a new rental listing for the company. This listing is a great opportunity and already has lots of bookings despite it only being open for about a week. This is exciting because it will hopefully bring in a lot of revenue for the company, which can allow it to expand. I’ve really enjoyed helping Lucia with projects for the new property because I know my work is important and will help the company a lot. However, it sometimes feels a little unrewarding, because me and the other intern get the same amount of credit but I do much more of the work. Luckily, this feeling dissipated a little on Wednesday, because my co-intern was sick (although I’m pretty sure he was not) and I got to work one on one with Lucia that day. We spent a lot of the day chatting and sharing stories, and I got to learn a little more about what it was like to grow up in Italy (she is from Venice!). It was very interesting to hear, and gave me an even deeper understanding and appreciation for Italian culture. She also bought me the best croissant of my life. Overall, it was a good week at BoutiqueNB and I’m already getting sad about the fact that next week is my last week here.
This past weekend I was lucky enough to go to London to visit my mom. My mom had spent the week prior in London on a work trip, so I met up with her on Friday. It was so nice to see her after what feels like forever. It’s strange to think it’s only been five weeks since we left home, but it feels like much longer. I think adjusting to a new city, a new country, and a new culture has slowed time down, but in the best way – I don’t want this trip to end! Anyway, London was amazing and so fun to experience. I had never been before, so we made it a mission to see everything we could. We did a city tour in a mini cooper (which really was super mini) on Friday, and went to Borough Market and afternoon tea on Saturday. It was super weird to be surrounded by people who spoke English again – it took all of my concentration to not greet people with “Ciao!”. Today is the 4th of July, which is super strange to not spend in the U.S.. The Italians have been congratulating us all day (haha). Tonight we are going to get American food and go around being as American as we can to properly celebrate.
