Author: Eleanor Gilbert | Major: Marketing | Semester: Summer 2025
This is a picture of me in awe of the Eiffel Tower. Although I had seen many pictures of the monument, seeing it with my own eyes was surreal. It was larger than I could have imagined, and the architecture was amazing.
Entering college, I knew studying abroad was something that I wanted to do to grow individually and professionally. I wanted to learn about other cultures and experience new countries. I knew that these experiences would cause me to grow in problem solving skills and independence, making studying abroad a high priority for my college experience. After conducting in depth research on different programs, I chose Italy because of its rich traditions and culture. Italy still has many historical ruins and beautiful ancient architecture, making exploring feel like you are walking through a living museum. Italy also has many different terrains – the dolomite mountains, the countryside and the coast. I decided on the CIMBA program through the University of Iowa – a four-week program in Northern Italy. This program has professors from many different colleges – including the University of Arkansas – that have years of experience and deeply care about each student’s academic growth as well as pushing students to grow through experiences. CIMBA also specializes in business learning, which aligns perfectly with my major. This made the CIMBA Italy program the perfect program for me and finalized my decision on how I want to study abroad.
Throughout my four weeks I attended CIMBA (the middle of May 2025 to the middle of June 2025), I took two courses: International Marketing and Social Media Marketing. I had each class once a day and an afternoon class for class every week. Particular moments that stood out to me were the afternoon classes, which tended to be more hands on. For my International Marketing class, we toured Mionetto winery which was only about thirty minutes away from campus. During this field trip, we were able to see the behind the scenes of the factory and learn about how this major brand supplies their wine worldwide. This taught me about the supply chain behind the brand and how brands can strategically supply their product to maximize quality and profit. Another moment that stood out to me was hearing guest speakers who had experience in marketing for many big Italian businesses in my Social Media Marketing class. These speakers were able to show us how they preform research on businesses and create a marketing standpoint for businesses to help a business reach their target audience and push ideas they support. These experiences will help me grow as a student and as a professional as I continue to grow in business knowledge.
Outside of class, I was able to travel to surrounding areas. During my trip, I was able to visit Florence, Italy; Pula, Croatia; Paris, France; and Venice, Italy. Each of these areas had unique features that were surreal to experience. I was able to enjoy the attractions of each location while also observing the culture of families and businesses in these areas. A location that stood out to me was Florence, Italy. I was able to see multiple beautiful cathedrals that dated back to the 13th century. The deep-rooted history and traditions of Florence were amazing to observe. I was able to try multiple authentic pasta dishes and experience Florence’s beautiful views such as the river, the Duomo and multiple ancient statues.
My experiences abroad heavily differed from my college experiences at the University of Arkansas because of the immersion into a new culture. Simple things like restaurant etiquette and social mannerisms are vastly different in Italy. Italians also have a more present and slow-paced way of life, which was pleasant to experience. However, experiencing these differences do bring challenges. During my first weekend trip, other classmates’ and my train was cancelled due to a train strike. This brought commotion about how we were going to arrive in Florence. A struggle that heightened this situation was being unfamiliar with train stations and not speaking Italian. Eventually we were able to change trains and arrive in a different train station than we were originally planned through talking to locals and researching alternative solutions. Although these challenges may have been stressful, they have caused me to learn problem solving skills and other lifelong skills that will impact how I navigate similar challenges in the future.
Overall, studying abroad was an experience that I would suggest to all students due to the personal growth and academic growth that is formed through immersion in another culture. While I can learn from experienced professors at the University of Arkansas on campus in Fayetteville, learning about different cultures and how business differs in these cultures has provided me growth that I could not comprehend. I am very thankful for the opportunity to study abroad and how the University of Arkansas supports students who wish to study abroad. My advice to younger students would be to research and go – you will not regret it!