Alexandra Litvak's Blog Post #9: July 11, 2024 | 2024 Lehigh-in-Milan with Professor Gupta

The final week of Professor Gupta’s Corporate Responsibility class consisted of our presentations. There were ten groups with differing controversial topics and about 20-minute presentations per group. My group’s topic was social media misinformation and who/how much it should be censored regarding free speech and advertisement rights. I have thought about this topic briefly, but I have never done research or gone in-depth about it. It was shocking to hear about how much misinformation goes on, especially on social media, and debate about who should have the final say on what you should and should not be allowed to post online. I worked with Miss Masillo and Miss Mielke and we divided the work up a little over a week ago, got it done early, and worked together well.

In our internship seminar this week, we gave our final presentations. My group researched why the Made In Italy label is so important and the process of being able to qualify for this label. I worked with Abi, Allie, Livi, and Cara and enjoyed the project a lot. We split it up into four questions regarding the label like food, fashion, and the manufacturing process. Our presentation went well- it was the time limit and Professor Swain asked an interesting question about the actual laws behind the label, which we did not research about, but it was great to learn. Overall, the seminar was really helpful during my time in Milan and helped me adjust to the culture and work environment much easier.

The final week of my internship consisted of wrapping up my work and presenting a final project. Throughout the internship, I have given two presentations to my boss on devices sold by BTS Bioengineering. For my final project, I was instructed to create a combined presentation of both of the devices with all of the suggestions she gave me throughout the summer and I presented it in front of our marketing team. I was much more stressed because the team was traveling from Florence just to hear me present and I did not want to make neither my boss nor myself look bad. With a week full of presentations, I felt under a lot of stress, but I am glad that they are over with. The presentation went well and I really enjoyed working here over the summer!

For our final weekend, we decided to stay in Milan to explore what we had not seen yet. I felt like since we traveled every weekend, we never had time to thoroughly enjoy Milan itself. We went to thrift markets and spent a lot of time on the canal. The canal is by far my favorite part of Milan due to the nightlife and beautiful scenery. On Saturday there are thrift markets lined up and down the water for miles. It was also nice to not have to travel this weekend because we were all getting a little bit worn out from hours of traveling every weekend. Last weekend was definitely one of my favorites!