Social:
I started off this week in beautiful Rome. On Sunday, I visited the Spanish Gardens and the Colosseum. Both the Spanish gardens and the colosseum were absolutely fantastic. Rome is definitely one of the most incredible places I have ever visited. The city was lively, filled with good food, and historic structures. On Sunday night, my friends and I had dinner at La Carbonara. It was definitely one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Carbonara is a dish that originated in Rome during World War II. At La Carbonara, we obviously ate their carbonara. We left Rome on Monday morning. During the week, I spent a lot of time walking around Milan with friends and doing work. On Thursday, we had the day off from class. We decided to spend the day shopping around Milan and exploring design week. This week, there were design exhibits all around Milan in a bunch of different venues across the design districts. We walked through a lot of shops and eventually ended up by the Milan Duomo. Since it was such a sunny and beautiful day, we decided to climb to the top of the Duomo. Walking up the Duomo was an incredible experience. The detail that went into the structure is unbelievable. Every banister and steeple had intricate and unique carvings and designs. I have never seen something so delicate and detailed. We spent a while at the top looking out at the city of Milan and the Alps in the distance. On Saturday, we all took the train to Cinque Terre, a string of coastal towns. The train ride to Monterosso was beautiful as we rode along the coast. In Cinque Terre, we laid out on the beach and swam in the crystal clear water. I also ate the best pesto ever. We took the train back to Milan that same day. This week has been filled with a lot of traveling and a lot of great experiences. I am so thankful for every day that I get to spend in beautiful Italy with my friends!
Internship:
My internship has been really interesting so far and I am really enjoying the work. This week, I made a presentation for the entrepreneurs that we are working with. I did some market research and explored their competitive landscape. On Wednesday, we showed the entrepreneurs the presentation and had an internship update meeting. Pietro and Davide, the entrepreneurs, are in their late 20’s and are trying to start a company. Through Phloema, we were assigned to their project. After our meeting with Marcello, Pietro, and Davide, we all went to get dinner. We walked straight from work to a restaurant down the road. Dinner was so much fun. We got to get to know Pietro and Davide a bit better and had a great time chatting and eating. So far, Davide and Pietro are happy with the work we have been doing for them, which is great! I really like the work culture here in Italy, because I feel like we are not just co-workers, but also friends. I am really excited to see where this project will take us.
School:
On Tuesday, we had class with Prof. Gupta at 9:00 am. During the class, we had extremely interesting conversations about various controversial topics. I really liked how everyone was engaged in the conversation, and how the classroom felt like a safe space to discuss these complex topics. The topic of corporate social responsibility has become super interesting o me, and now I find myself making connections back to class material during my everyday life. One of my favorite parts about the class so far is the Wall Street Journal posts. It is so interesting to read everyone’s reactions to the various articles. I hope that after this class, reading the wall street journal and forming reactions to the news is a habit that I carry with me. I am also really enjoying the discussion style of the class. In Prof. Swain’s class, we are continuing our discussion of culture in Italy and how cultural differences may present themselves during our internships. I am really enjoying my classes here because the subject matter is extremely applicable to our daily lives, and for our futures in business.
