Overlook of Ancient Roman Ruins

Author: Lauren Edmunds | Major: Biomedical Engineering | Semester: Summer 2023

Hello! My name is Lauren Edmunds, and I am a rising junior here at the University of Arkansas. I am a part of the College of Engineering here at Arkansas, with a major in Biomedical Engineering. This summer, I had the opportunity to study abroad with CIMBA. CIMBA is a program set up in the mountains of Paderno del Grappa, a small town in northern Italy. Through CIMBA, I had the opportunity to further my education, as well as learn about the culture and lifestyle of many different places throughout Italy thanks to the long travel weekends the program provided us with. This really was the summer of a lifetime, and I am excited to share more about it.

At CIMBA, I had the opportunity to earn 6 credit hours in a 4-week time span. CIMBA is primarily a business program, so it may have seemed like an odd choice for an engineering student. I found though that this program allowed me to take classes that I may not have gotten the opportunity to take back home, and broaden my academic horizons. This summer, I took an Introduction to Management class, as well as a class called Italy Live. Introduction to Management is about exactly how the name sounds. I learned more about the business world, and what all really goes into managing a company. This was the first class I had ever gotten to take in the field of business, and I believe that it was really beneficial to me. Even though I am getting a degree in engineering, I may one day have the opportunity to become a manager within my profession. Knowing at least the basics of business and management is super important in the real world, and this class taught me a lot regarding that. My professor, Jana Fitchett, was very knowledgeable, as she had been a manager for 25 years prior to becoming a professor at the University of Kansas. She was passionate about what she was teaching, which helped me become passionate about learning this topic. This class taught me skills that I will definitely use in the future, and I am glad I had the opportunity to take it. The other class I took while at CIMBA was Italy Live. This class was an Italian language class, and proved to be very helpful during my time spent abroad. I had never taken Italian before, so I was slightly nervous going into it. This turned out to be one of the best decisions I could have made during this program. There is something motivating about learning a language and actually having to use it when you step outside of the classroom. When taking a language class back at home, it is different, since you do not always use the language outside of the classroom. Getting to learn Italian while actually in Italy though was a special experience. I got to apply what I was learning, and was even able to speak to some of the locals! They definitely knew I was American and spoke mainly English, but people appreciate it when you try and speak their language. My professor was actually a native Italian speaker from the area we studied in, so she was very knowledgeable (and patient) when teaching us the language. Since she grew up around there, she knew all of the regional dialects, and taught us how to talk to locals extremely well. Learning Italian was something I had never really seen myself doing, so I am glad I got the opportunity to learn while studying abroad, and hope it comes in handy someday in the future.

The CIMBA program had 4-day classroom weeks, and then allowed students long weekends to travel and experience different parts of Italy and Europe. This allowed me to be introduced to not only the culture of the town we were studying in, but other parts of the country as well. While I was there, I had the opportunity to travel to Florence, Cinque Terre, different parts of Switzerland, and Rome. Each city was very different, and seemed to have its own culture. In Italy, each region is known for different kinds of food. For example, Rome is known for its carbonara. While there, I got to try carbonara at 2 different restaurants, and both were incredible! Also, the region of Italy we studied in, Treviso, is known for parmigiano reggiano (parmesan cheese). We got the opportunity to try the “real deal” stuff, which was super cool. We also got the chance to see many different museums and famous artwork. While in Florence, I had the opportunity to visit the Statue of David. This was very surreal, and was much larger than I had ever imagined. In Rome, we got the chance to visit the Vatican and see the Sistine Chapel, as well as St. Peter’s Basilica. In Switzerland, we got to see the Swiss Alps, and even take a gondola ride up to the top of one of the mountains. It felt like something out of the Sound of Music. Getting to travel gave me the chance to experience many different cultures I might not have ever gotten to see.

I would absolutely recommend the CIMBA program to other students. The program is set up for you to experience different cultures, experience new things, while also maintaining a good classroom environment. I had the chance to expand my education, while also experiencing new things I may have never gotten to do. The long travel weekends are not the only way this program allows you to try new things though. They set up different field trips for you to go on throughout the week to other towns neighboring Paderno del Grappa, and get to see more of the charming Italian countryside. Experiences such as authentic pizza and pasta making were arranged for us, and tours of different Italian businesses were included in class field trips. One thing I wish I knew beforehand was to bring a reusable water bottle. I ended up just refilling my plastic water bottles, but a reusable metal bottle would have worked better, and I would not have had to spend as much replacing the plastic ones every few days. The first thing I did when I got home was hug my family, and get some sleep! With so much to do and see, I did not want to spend all of my days sleeping in or laying around. I knew that I would be able to sleep for a while when I got home, so I made sure to spend as much time exploring and experiencing as many new things as possible.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to study abroad, and it truly was the best month of my life. I learned and experienced so much, and am already planning my next trip to Europe! Ciao for now, Italy!