Vast lake of Naboo
Author: Eugene Lee | Major: Accounting | Semester: Summer 2025
Hello! My name is Eugene Lee and I am currently a graduate student at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, pursuing my master’s degree in accounting. I attended the U of A Rome Center: IMAcc Global Immersion in Italy during the May Intersession from May 11-22nd.
This program was the only program that was provided for graduate students that benefited accounting majors, but I have always dreamed of going to Italy. When I saw this program, I was ecstatic at the idea of traveling across the world to take a class for graduate credit in Italy. The only thing I wish was different about the trip was the length of the program. Our program lasted only eleven days, so a few more days or an extra week there would have been perfect.
A part of our experiences in this program was to have six business visits with chosen Italian companies. We were tasked with preparing presentations before leaving for Italy and were required to create presentations for four companies. One company that we had the opportunity to visit was CONSOB (Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa), which is essentially the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) for the Italian market. I was very intrigued by this business visit, with four different representatives from CONSOB presenting their presentations on the macroeconomic overview, capital markets, debt sustainability, and equity markets of Italy. We were tasked to create our presentations comparing the similarities and differences between the Italian and U.S. markets.
These presentations were very effective as they fueled insightful conversations between the CONSOB employees, the students, and our professors over the differences in Italian and U.S. markets. I realized through this business visit that the economy of Italy was in a much worse state than that of the U.S. Due to the majority of Italians not invested in the stock market and the lack of venture capitalists, start-ups in Italy are presented with a lot less of options than those in the U.S. Due to the lack of investors in Italy, many companies are forced to borrow money from the bank. This limits a company with the amount of capital it can raise and its ability to scale in the future. This creates a debt-reliant economy in Italy and establishes a risk-averse mentality throughout the country. In the U.S., everyone is encouraged to start investing at an early age and there are so many different opportunities to gain capital. This allows many citizens and companies to not rely on banks for loans, increasing their risk-reward significantly. From our other business visits, we noticed this continued pattern and allowed us to realize how risk-averse Italy truly was.
Throughout the trip, we went on many different cultural visits like going to the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Forum, the Duomo, etc. These visits were shocking, as I had never seen historical buildings that were so culturally symbolic while being more than thousands of years old. The history of these buildings was very interesting and made me think deeply about the past and what life was truly like when these grand buildings were built.
Although, the cultural visits were remarkable to see in person, nothing compared to the stunning views at Lake Como. This was my favorite part of the entire trip. All 18 of us students got on a train from Milan to Lake Como and we spent an entire day at Como. We explored the city of Como and ate at the delicious restaurants surrounding the area before our 3-hour boat tour experience. With some wine and snacks, we had a private boat that took us to all the surrounding villas on Lake Como. This was the prettiest place I have ever experienced and the most memorable. We also stopped at this island where we could get out and swim. The water was extremely cold, but also very refreshing. With mountains surrounding us and the water being so pure, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I will forever cherish this entire trip with my fellow graduates and am so thankful for establishing friendships with 17 different classmates before even beginning my graduate courses.