Manarola, one of the five towns of Cinque Terre

Author: Ashley Peterson | Major: Supply Chain Management

Academics:

CIMBA’s culture is something like I have never experienced before: People are outgoing and kind, adventurous, giving, and fun. This environment allowed for an unmatched learning experience in and out of the classroom. This program allows you to travel freely on the weekends which gives you a sense of purpose, independence, and individuality. You have three weekends to take advantage of to explore a whole new country or multiple countries if you choose. Traveling in a foreign country without a parent or guardian allows you to experience struggles like missing a train and having to figure out what to do which creates problem-solving skills. It also allows you to experience independence like you never have before. CIMBA allowed me to grow as a person and professionally tremendously in just four short weeks. I learned dining etiquette skills, and how to navigate the train system, my confidence and cultural awareness grew, and I became more accepting of others’ ways. The classes I took during those four weeks were interesting and enriching. We were able to go on class field trips to help aid our learning in the subjects we were studying, and the professors were beyond helpful, encouraging, and understanding. Whether in the classroom or on a class field trip, each experience is engaging and enriching. Professors encourage their students to do their best and to study, but they are also very understanding about the fact that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Both of my professors would do their best to help accommodate their students and even took an interest in what their students did on the weekends and where they went. CIMBA was the perfect mixture of academics, freedom, experience, and independence. CIMBA also provides you with opportunities to go on free trips to nearby towns to help you enrich your knowledge of Italian culture.

Culture:

The three travel weekends were a huge blessing. We were able to go off and travel wherever we wanted for the weekend. Because of this, I was able to go to Milan, Cinque Terre (my personal favorite), and Rome. I was able to take in beautiful views, learn a lot of history surrounding Italy and the Catholic church, and eat A LOT of good food. The culture that I experienced was not limited to the travel weekends, I was able to experience the Italian culture every day. Whether that was observing the Italian students or going and exploring Paderno. One of my favorite experiences had to be paragliding down Mt. Grappa. The company we went with is very kind and they truly enjoy interacting with us, students.

Advice:

CIMBA is a great experience, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is adventurous and wants to get out of their comfort zone. I absolutely loved my experience at CIMBA and will forever be thankful for all the memories I was able to make while I was abroad. I will always talk about the great times I had abroad, but it is important to remember that there are some hard times as well. Whether it is being homesick, sick, or breaking your phone when you are almost 6000 miles away from home (this one happened to me). It is important to remember to take a deep breath and everything will be okay.