Camel ride in the Sahara

Author: Colen Morrow | Majors: Finance and Political Science

When I was deciding which program I would choose for my study abroad program this summer, I wanted a program that would allow me to fully take advantage of my time in Europe. Therefore, the location of my program was very important. One of the programs I found on the Study Abroad portal was in Milan, Italy, and was six weeks long. This met two of my requirements as Milan is relatively centrally located in Western Europe and the program duration was what I was looking for. In Milan, I took three different courses. Each course was two weeks long and the subject of each class varied. My first course was discovering Italy through the culinary arts. During this class, we learned about the history of food from the different regions of Italy as well as how to pair different pastas with wines. We also had a cooking lab in which we assisted a chef in making both pizza and pasta. My second class was Social and Economic Entrepreneurship. In this class, we analyzed businesses that seek to reduce environmental impact and advocate for social issues while also remaining financially viable. Prior to this class, I was not aware of the many challenges these firms are tasked with overcoming. We visited two environmental and social enterprises during this class. My third course was Business and the Global Economy. As a part of this course, we studied economics through the lens of individual firms, employees, and governments. We also visited two businesses during this course. The manner in which classes were conducted were much more interactive in comparison to my experience and the University of Arkansas. I also enjoyed visiting firms that were implementing the ideas and strategies that we discussed in class. My favorite part of our program was meeting people from different countries. In my classes, there were students from Mexico, Egypt, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Australia, and Italy. The class sizes were small so were able to interact with different students.

The culture in Italy varied in several ways. The food was much more of an art, and there were not as many fast food or franchised restaurants. I enjoyed getting to speak with my Professors about the differences between Italy and the United States. From a business perspective, they mentioned that there were many regulations that made it difficult for people to start new businesses. I did feel as if there was more of a work-life balance or a work-to-live mindset. At many of the restaurants, no matter the night of the week, most of the tables were full. Italians also eat much later than the average American.

While traveling in a foreign country is likely to be overwhelming at times, there are a few measures future students can take to maximize their time abroad. Learning important phrases (i.e ordering food, greetings) would be very beneficial, especially during the first few weeks. For example, during my first week, it would have been nice to ask locals about good places to eat, shop, and transportation. I would also recommend thinking about where you want to travel before you begin your trip. It is not necessarily important to know exactly where you are going but rather what type of places you want to visit, so think about what you are interested in seeing (museums, diff cultures, hiking).