My STEP Signature Project was a study abroad program through Fisher College of Business, and I just recently completed it in May.  For this program, we took a sustainability course second session of Spring 2019, and then we travelled to The Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden to discuss sustainability practices of some of the top companies in each of those countries.  We were able to reserve time for just our group (17 students) to have these meetings with each company. There were 1-2 visits everyday.

After completing this program, I had a lot of time to reflect on my time and what I learned.  Before going to these countries, I knew very little about sustainability and how other countries around the world were tackling this concept.  It was truly mind blowing to see the large amounts of progress that these countries/companies were making compared to the US. It made me realize how much of a consumption society that we live in, and that needs to be changed.  For most of the companies that we visited, I observed a top-down approach to change. The UN put together a list of 17 sustainable goals for each country to try to achieve, and that is where most companies began their approach. They chose a handful of goals out of the 17, and they really ingrained these goals into the workplace.  Some companies had a sustainable or corporate responsibility team, but others did not need one – the entire company served as the sustainability team. I also saw that the patrons of each country were thinking similarly to the companies, so it was basically a part of the overall culture. I realize that each of these countries are rather small, so it is much easier to make this kind of progress, but the US could definitely learn a thing or two from them. Ultimately, I have found a new passion for sustainability and maintaining this world in the best shape possible.  It takes a new kind of thinker to tackle this issue, and I would love to continue my education in sustainable business after graduation in one of these countries. Long story short, this program helped me find a new passion, and it gave me a direction to take to achieve my long-term goals.

While studying abroad, I was able to have one-on-one conversations with company executives about their experience with the companies and what led them to that position.  The majority of the people that I spoke with said that they never had intentions of being in the position that they were in, but their career path just led them to it. After holding those positions, they all said that they had realized the importance of sustainability within their company and with the society that they live in.

One company in particular stood out to me the most – Houdini activewear. Houdini creates a culture through their outdoor/athleisure clothing by making 100% of their products out of fabrics that are recycled, recyclable, renewable, or biodegradable and encouraging their customers to embrace nature.  Through embracing nature, they believe that they are creating a more sustainable world. Their products are long lasting, and they use minimal material – all a part of their idea of slowing down this consumption-based society. Their website even has an entire tab on how their company is working towards a completely sustainable lifestyle.

This was the very last company that we visited while abroad, and it was certainly the best one. It was incredible to see how passionate their team was and what kind of change they were wanting to see starting with their brand – they had it all down to a T. This inspired me to pursue an education focusing on this topic, and it ultimately is what made me want to continue my schooling in one of these countries.

This transformation matters to me because I now have a better understanding of myself and where I want to go with my future.  As a college student, I think it is hard to always know exactly what you want to do with your life after graduation. Up until this point, I have been constantly changing my minors and ideas of what post-grad would look like, but I now have a clearer picture.  This allows me to make decisions now that will be beneficial to my future. Obviously only time can tell where my life goes, but it feels good to have a sense of what I would like to do with my future.

I was also able to gain professional skills while studying abroad. Through my discussions with the business executives and interns at each company, I was able to learn to adapt to different communication styles and read the person I was talking to. It is very important to know how to communicate with different types of people. I am appreciative for the many skills that this program gave me!

On a lighter note, this was my first time being out of the country, and I look forward to traveling more in the future.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Ronchamp, France

Wolfsburg, Germany

April 25 – May 23

-For my STEP Signature Project, I used my funds to participate in a study abroad program through the Knowlton School of Architecture. The European Studies study abroad program, led by professor Jackie Gargus, took us to seven countries, forty cities, and hundreds of architectural sites in only four weeks. We focused on the history and context of the buildings by doing research prior to our trip. While on site we had theoretical discussions on the building while doing analytical sketching.

-Before participating in this program, I had never visited a place under the pretense of architecture. The way I look at buildings and places now are much different than how I would of in the past. Previously, when reading textbooks or researching a building they always seem to be a stand-alone project without any site context. What I came to learn on the trip is that context within an architectural project is everything. No matter where a building may be, from a mountain top in the Alps or a bustling metropolitan city center, it is always a reaction to its surroundings. Moving forward in my career as an architecture student, I can apply this way of thinking to my designs and research to strengthen them immensely.

Something else the trip taught me is how important understanding other cultures and their history. Since we visited mostly Central Europe, many of the cities had been ravaged by World War II and the Cold War. This effected not only the physical place of each city, but the inherent culture as well. Berlin was a prime example of these effects. Destroyed almost completely by World War II, all of the buildings are either completely new or rebuilds of the pre-war. This gave the city an odd, unbalanced feeling. During the Cold War, Berlin was also divided completely by the Berlin Wall, and the dialectical difference between the metropolitan West Berlin and the more run down, economically deprived areas of East Berlin were intense. It was like two different worlds. Before this trip, I would have never been to articulate or even begin to understand how history has affected architecture and culture like it has in the cities we visited.

-Beginning our program, I had done little international travel. I was not accustomed to being in an environment that I was so unfamiliar with or did not speak the language of the local people. When arriving in Switzerland, the challenge of understanding, interpreting, and getting along through these new places began. We had to navigate public transit, try to buy groceries, order at restaurants, or ask for directions every day. This involved learning about the culture, trying to learn a new language, and also understanding their customs. All of these factored together made it easy to approach a new city or country each time we moved on. We learned about so much history along the way through museum visits and walking tours of cities that it became second nature to apply our new knowledge of history to modern time.

The professor who led the trip has been taking students on architectural tours like this one for twenty-five years. She has a depth of historical and architectural knowledge that was integral to the success of our trip. She is the one who encouraged us to think about the context of a building, like when it was built and why, or what was there before. It is because of her priming us with historical and artistic background information that we were able to understand buildings and places at more than just face value. Her way of teaching, explaining, and analyzing architectural sites is something that I will use as I move forward in my career as an architecture student.

Another cause for transformation during my Signature Project was the exposure to so many different places. Reading about a building or seeing it in picture is one thing, but the physical and emotional experience of visiting and entering one is incomparable. The most vivid example of this was visiting the Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany. It had been almost completely destroyed by World War II but was rebuilt post war. During the rebuild of the church, the architects decided to use some of the salvageable stone from the ruins that were burnt and blacked to remind the people of Dresden and Germany of the atrocity of war. The black stones form almost a patchwork within the surface of the smooth brown stones, and they refuse to go unnoticed. If I were to have read about the use of stone at the church in Dresden, I would have understood it but not to a deep extent. Seeing something in real life and weighing the value of it, historically and tectonically, as a piece of architecture on the surrounding areas is something that can only be experienced in real life.

-As an architecture student it is important to go out and actually see architecture. Europe is a goldmine for masterpieces within such close proximity to one another in comparison to the United States. Some of the cities we visited are almost one thousand years old, and they are loaded with history. The biggest lesson I have taken away from my Signature Project is that historical context matters in architecture. If I want to be a successful architect, then I will need to carry this life lesson on with me as I complete my undergraduate and graduate schooling. Buildings should carry the sense of place that they represent, like a church as a holy place or a mountain barn as rustic and fundamental, and that is something that can only be learned from seeing and analyzing architecture. With the help of my STEP Signature Project, I have transformed the way I think, feel, and study architecture.

Frank Liu

STEP Reflection

May 10th-20th

Rome, Italy – Athens, Greece

The project that I participated was a study abroad program called European Model of Sports where the group spent a combined ten days in Rome and Athens. The activities included attending lectures from sport club executives and sightseeing throughout the city.

The program was about the European model of sport, which is a relatively new topic that I didn’t have much previous experiences on. Before the trip we studied about it during class and so I’ve some assumptions about it myself. Throughout the many lectures that we attended while we were there I learned about a very different version of the sport industry compared to the ones in the US. By learning about these differences between the two regions, my view of the sport world now is more complete.

The first event that I really enjoyed was when we attended the AS Roma and Juventus game. As a big soccer fan it was my dream to eventually see a top tier European competition in person and I was really excited to learn about this opportunity. Through this game day experience I noticed some differences between attending a game in the US and in Europe. For example Europe is a lot less focused on the area of fan experience. We noticed that there wasn’t many things you could do once you entered the venue except for buying food at the concession stands. There were no sponsor tents, interactive zones or free stuff of any kind. While in the US it is usually the opposite where organizers will try their best to keep the fans engaged throughout the game with these extra activities. This showed me one of the areas for improvements in Europe.

Another great event was attending a lecture by Gabriella Bascelli from multisport club Lazio SS. During the lectures she talked about the availability of youth sport and its rising costs. She mentioned that in order for any athletes to compete in official competitions the individual will have to belong to a sport club. Meaning that individual will also have to pay an annual subscription fee to the club in order to become a member. Adding this to the usual high equipment costs of participating in most sports, youth sports is becoming a lot harder for families of all income to participate. In fact one person in the group tried to ask a question related to financial aid and how low income family could get the kids into teams. She had a hard time with that problem and it really showed us that the availability of youth sport is a potential problem that need to be taken care of.

The last event that I want to talk about is the lectures from AS Roma. We learned from them that the youth sport model in Europe is completely different from that in the US. Youth academies are set up very professionally and managed just like a business. Players regardless of age will have to sign a contract and could possibly get cut at any time from the team if his/her performances isn’t convincing. Where if a player is showing great potential and talent other teams can make offer for him to go directly to the professional first teams. This model is completely opposite to the US where players usually follow the idea of education over athletics. Athletes are required to go to college before they can sign up for the professional level. These differences made me think a lot about their pros and cons. Along with how each sport model can benefit from elements of the other.

This program was very beneficial to me because of my future goal. I plan to work within the Chinese youth sport industry which is gaining attention recently and is a major focus in sports such as soccer. It is still a very underdeveloped sector of the Chinese sport industry so being able to learn about both the American and European sport models really helped me have a better understanding of youth sport. I believe that by utilizing the best elements from both models it is possible to minimize the obstacles in youth sports, especially the ‘sport for all’ issue where equality is very difficult to achieve.

During my Autumn 2018 semester, I set tangible goals for myself that I wanted to reach by the end of this past school year. One of those goals was to apply, get accepted, and find ways to reduce the cost of an education abroad program. Given that I am in the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR), I am required to have at least one experiential learning trip abroad. I began doing research into programs that would allow me to receive academic credit towards my degree but also for ones that aligned with my interests in sustainability and community development. I searched through the Office of International Affairs website and found quite a few programs, but I really found what I was looking for when I went to the education abroad webpage for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). I found quite a few programs there that piqued my interest but many of them were far out of my price range. Unfortunately, as an out-of-state student, these education abroad trips are still priced with out-of-state tuition so pricing was definitely a barrier to entry. I spoke with Amanda Laser in SENR who helped me identify possible trips, their application deadlines, and price ranges. She informed me about the new trip to Panama through CFAES and about the steps taken to make the trip affordable for students who might have barriers to entry. After attending the information sessions for this education abroad trip, I applied knowing it would be my first experience out of the country. This was a nerve-wracking experience for me because as a first-generation college student, it is difficult to navigate these experiences that deal with money and traveling. However, things began to fall into place after I was accepted into the program. I was able to figure out financial assistance that significantly reduced the already subsidized cost of the program and I was able to set myself up for a transformational experience abroad.

Other than the subsidized cost and a program that aligned with my interests, one of the reasons why I applied to this trip was so I could finally experience what it would be to visit a Latin American country. This trip to Panama was my first time out of the country, never even having visited a place I would like to call home in Puerto Rico. Prior to the program, I wanted to be able to begin forming what my Latinx identity meant to me and I felt traveling abroad to another Latin American country would allow me to do that.

Prior to the trip one of my biggest anxieties was my Spanish speaking abilities. Both of my parents are Puerto Rican but decided to not teach my siblings and I Spanish as our first language. Growing up, we got English and Spanglish. Being that I was born and raised on the mainland U.S., it was anxiety-inducing to imagine myself being thrown into the Spanish speaking arena. My experience growing up Latinx in the U.S. was one where if you didn’t speak Spanish you weren’t Latino enough or you were becoming too assimilated. When in Panama, I found that there was a very different attitude towards people who attempted to speak Spanish or appeared to be of a Latinx identity. I often ended up in conversations with people who referred to me as their cousin or using slang that would essentially mean someone who is familiar. To my surprise, my ear picked up on the language very quickly. I was able to understand a lot more than I thought I would even though I sometimes struggled to find the correct conjugation of words.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting the Fab Lab. I come from a vocational and technical training background so being able to see how that platform is growing beyond high school education and being used as a community development piece was truly interesting. When touring the Fab Lab, I remember looking around and thinking about the potential building one of these has in my hometown. However, instead of thinking of it as just a place for others to come in and work on their own projects, I was thinking about using the Fab Lab infrastructure as a way to divert waste. One of the projects we saw at the Fab Lab was a chair that was made of some old metal, a wooden seat, and an old computer keyboard as the seat back. There was also a light fixture that diffused light through plastic bottle caps. I immediately thought of our recycling issue and how many Asian countries are no longer accepting our recyclable products and how a Fab Lab type facility would allow these products to be upcycled into pieces of art, furniture, or tools that can be made or sold for economic development.

Another part of the trip I truly enjoyed was the Lo TuYo organic farm. I have a bit of experience with organic urban farming so being able to see organic farming on a larger rural scale was very interesting to me. I had an employment opportunity at a non-profit that worked on providing fresh and organic produce to food deserts. Lo TuYo was similar in the sense that they provided the hub for local farmers to come and learn about organic practices and sell their produce to the community. It was interesting to learn about the different levels of organic in the U.S. that seemed to be frowned upon in Panama where they preferred their produce as organic as possible.

As someone who grew up in a densely populated, urban area of Northern New Jersey, I had to step out of my comfort zone when we visited the dairy farms. I had never been that close to cows before, and I certainly have never witnessed milk being harvested from them. Although it was hard for me to grasp the complete interest in dairy farming, I will say I was able to gain a new appreciation for where my dairy comes from and the processes that go behind ensuring my product is safe and ready. Given that we had some trip participants who had experience with dairy farming, I took it as an opportunity to learn about an industry I would have never imagined having the opportunity to observe. I was able to ask questions to both the Panamanian dairy farmers and to my group members who knew what the processes were like in the U.S. Another challenge for me was the day we went to the University of Panama. For similar reasons of never being exposed due to my urban upbringing, I had to step out of my comfort zone when entering the facility where the pigs were kept. I had never been that close to pigs and I will say the smell was not pleasant, to say the least. I was able to overhear conversations between my group members about differences between practices in Panama and the U.S. and I can say that I definitely have an appreciation for the industry that provides meat for my consumption.

A key takeaway from engaging in conversation about the meat industries in the U.S. had to do with the notions that livestock are the biggest contributors to greenhouse gasses. On this trip, I learned that it is not the livestock themselves but the industries behind producing and transporting these livestock. That piece of knowledge gained placed my mind into a whirlwind of thoughts of readdressing how I thought of environmental issues pertaining to livestock. It was a field I was fairly ignorant about to begin with, but this allowed me to think of ways to create cleaner transportation methods and tools for harvesting these livestock.

During this trip, I found myself using my Puerto Rican lens to find similarities between Panamanian and Puerto Rican culture, food, and language. Particularly with culture and clothing, I found that the traditional men’s dress shirt called the guayabera was both called the same name and used for similar occasions. Starting with food, the food in Panama was amazing and I often found myself eating food that others did not want or could not have due to dietary restrictions. The national soup of Panama is called sancocho, and in Puerto Rican culture, we also have sancocho. However, it was interesting to taste the different iterations of this soup. In Panama, sancocho is more of a chicken soup with yucca but in Puerto Rican culture, sancocho is made more so with beef corn and potatoes or yucca. One of the first things I picked up on was the difference in color too, where Panamanian sancocho is more of a yellow color and Puerto Rican sancocho is a darker orange. Another food that is found in both cultures but is made differently are the plantains. In Panama, the fried plantains are seasoned with cinnamon to give them more of a warm taste and in Puerto Rico, they are seasoned with our version of seasoning salt. Something interesting with the food was even the differences in what certain foods were called. In Puerto Rico, we have this wild growing fruit called the quenepa, or Spanish lime. In Panama, they also have the same fruit, but it is called a mamon. Another food that is found in both cultures but called different names is the fried mashed plantain. In Panama, they call those patacones and in Puerto Rican culture we call them tostones.

Similarly related to food, during our trip, we had the opportunity to visit the La Dona Pineapple plantation. On these visits, I was viewing and learning through my community development lens and found out that this 117-hectare pineapple plantation one started out as a one-hectare pineapple experiment by Edna Vergara. Over the course of 25 years, Edna was able to grow her business along with 55 other local growers to construct Panama’s first pineapple export facility. Edna was the first women ever to receive Panama’s Agriculture Person of the Year honor and she continues to inspire women and influence Panamanian agriculture as president of the National Export Association. Today, the plantation is run by her son, Paul, who is working to empower, encourage, and educate women all throughout the Panama Oeste province by providing employment opportunities in the production process and agribusiness sector. Not only were the pineapples the best I ever had, but Paul and his operation are working to continue building on Edna’s legacy of community development and women empowerment.

Another component of community development that truly sparked my interest was when we visited Instituto Nacional de Agricultura (INA). INA is an academic institute partnered with the Ministry of Agriculture with the goal to educate rural students on agricultural practices that target food insecurity throughout the country. INA provides scholarships and opportunities for low-income rural students to receive an education they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Post-graduation from INA, students we spoke with aspired to attend university in Costa Rica and Brazil to hopefully take what they learn and bring it back to their communities. Also, the coffee farm we visited in Boquete taught me about direct trade initiatives versus fair trade. Both systems were set in place to promote environmental protection, economic sustainability, and the rights of laborers and farmers. At this visit I learned about the benefits of direct trade over fair trade in that direct trade ensures that the money gets to the hands that actually picked the coffee. Fairtrade works better to address economic volatility for producers and purchasers but not necessarily those who pick the coffee. Direct trade also ensures that the coffee would retain the authenticity of its origin flavor.

One of my biggest takeaways from a development standpoint was how can we create a market for Eco-Tourism in Panama that won’t suffer due to excess trash buildup. This is often a double-edged sword as Eco Tourism can also promote wasteful tendencies. However, at some of the hotels we stayed at, I took note of environmentally friendly initiatives particularly with the packaging of soaps and the towel reusing programs. I noticed soaps being packaged in biodegradable wrapping and signage in hotel rooms that mentioned reusing any towel that is not on the floor. Although the hotels had some of these environmentally friendly initiatives aimed to keep trash from their facilities, it was not enough to curb the trash being found on hiking trails, and along rivers that are used for whitewater rafting. Expanding those observations further and we think of where these plastic wastes originate from ultimately ending back at big industry. Often times when engaging in conversation about recycling or waste habits, one often uses the phrase “vote with your dollar.” As lovely as it would be to choose products that don’t come wrapped in plastic and to choose biodegradable alternatives, it is important to note that having the financial ability to make that choice is a privilege. Individual choices will not make a huge dent in plastic ending up in waterways when the biodegradable alternatives are always more expensive. Individual actions will not stop big industries from producing plastic and it will take other corporate powers with economic and political influence demanding a change. Grassroots campaigns are great when you have the financial privilege to purchase and demand biodegradable products.

When majoring in EEDS, you are taught the triple bottom line of sustainability. People, planet, and profit are those three factors, but I typically like to throw in purpose as the fourth. To continue developing on “Sustainability” aspect of the program’s title, I think it would be interesting to learn more about gentrification in the country. Sustainability is often linked with development and a lot of our sustainability exposure on the trip was focused on smaller scale community development initiatives. However, when traveling through Panama City or other areas seeing mass scale economic and infrastructural development, we saw the disparities between the haves and the have-nots and I think it would open a lot of eyes to even make that a topic for research or presentation for next year prior to the trip.

This trip allowed me to be a pioneer in many aspects of my life. Not only am I the first in my family to travel out of the country on an education abroad trip, but I was also part of the first group to attend this trip. I was fortunate enough to have this trip be extremely subsidized due to scholarships and I was able to begin formulating what I think it means to be a global citizen. Traveling to a Latin American country allowed me to begin connecting with my Latinx community in a way that I have never before. This was such a positive and transformational experience and I look forward to traveling abroad again in the near future.

My STEP Signature Project consisted of a tour of Rome guided by literary ideas discussed in class beforehand. Every day abroad, the group visited beautiful historic monuments, pieces of artwork, and cultural locations to fully understand this topics of the class.

My view of the world has been greatly impacted by the STEP Signature Project that I chose to embark on. I feel that every time I travel abroad, I gain a greater understanding of how other cultures differ from my own and ways that I can better myself through them. Furthermore, I feel that traveling to Rome has taught me to appreciate my own Italian heritage more than I had before. Now that I have visited the country in which my ancestors are from, I realize why my family has some of the traditions that we still practice today. Overall, I think that my trip to Rome has changed me for the better and shaped me as a more well-rounded person and student.

Furthermore, I feel that I have gained social experience from my time abroad, as I learned to travel and interact with my fellow classmates. In traveling together, we made bonds that I will never forget and I have gained connections and skills that I will carry with me into my career.

Upon arriving in Italy, I immediately realized that the culture was different than anything I had experienced before. The people that I initially interacted with were already displaying mannerisms that I was not familiar with from the U.S., and I had to quickly learn to understand them. For example, I found the people at the airport to be more relaxed and less hectic about travel than I would typically see in the U.S. Because of this relaxed environment, I also felt less rushed and anxious in the airport and was able to retrieve my luggage with less hassle. I feel that seeing the Italian citizens act this way in the airport is something that I would like to carry with me as I return home so that I can learn to be calmer in stressful situations.

Furthermore, I noticed things in Rome, such as traditional Italian dishes, that I have been accustomed to eating for my whole life without understanding their complete origins. While being immersed in Italian tradition while abroad, I was able to see that the things practiced by the Italian side of my family are authentic and still employed today.

Finally, while abroad, I built relationships with those who I traveled with. Traveling together, we were forced to help each other navigate the metro systems, translate menus and signs, and much more. We were forced to act as a team so that we could make our way through Italy in the most efficient and respectful way possible. Working together with my classmates helped me see a different side of international travel that I have not yet experienced and has made me a better traveler overall.

The changes and transformations that I have obtained from this STEP Signature Project will assist me in numerous ways as I explore my personal and professional goals. Adapting to and understanding a new culture is a useful tool in my Pre-Law experience because once I am a practicing lawyer, this is something that I will have to do. Also, understanding my personal roots and culture will help me reach my personal goals because it has given me a better idea of cultural aspects that I would like to carry with me into my future. Finally, the relationships that I have built with my classmates can potentially help with my professional goals, as my network has now broadened and my people skills have been improved.

Me, inside of the Colosseum

The Roman Forum

Venice, Italy

Verona, Italy

• Throughout my two-week study abroad program in Italy my group traveled to the cities of Padua, Venice, Verona, and Milan. In each city, we were able to experience both cultural activities which allowed us to gain insight into the city’s history but also a corporation headquartered in the city. Each company visit gave us a new perspective of a unique design, manufacturing and logistics process.
• My study abroad program allowed me to see the world through a new lens and compare the culture within the United States to that in a country such as Italy. Two distinct features of the Italian culture worked to change my view of the world, the first of these features being the laid-back nature of Italian citizens. I quickly found in Italy that people do not move or behave at an efficient pace such as that found in the United States, these individuals while hardworking and diligent live at a slower pace, showing more appreciation for the finer things in life. The second revelation I had during my experience relates to the heightened awareness of security risk that is lacking abroad. I found it to be shocking how parents simply allowed their children to roam without fear of abduction which forced me to reflect on how often these events occur and are discussed in the United States, a fact that does not hold true in Italy. These cultural deviations allowed me to take a step back and think about how my upbringing in the United States has heavily influenced my actions and thoughts and I enjoyed gaining a new perspective on culture.
• Although I only traveled for two weeks abroad, I came away from my trip with so many new experiences and memories which I will carry with me for the rest of my life. As I stated previously my perspective of the world was greatly influenced by my own firsthand experiences, showing me just how greatly other cultures can differ from my own. The first of these cultural differences related to the pace in which individuals live in the United States, fast and efficient, to that in Italy which was significantly more lax. This revelation calls forth two specific experiences I had while abroad that perfectly highlight this difference. The first is in regards to restaurant culture, in the United States, it is expected that quite soon following the completion of your meal you will leave allowing another individual to take your place but this expectation is not found in Italy. In Italy, once an individual sits at a table and orders an item they are able to sit for as long as they see fit, in fact, it is often necessary to get up and find the waiter/waitress to receive a check a fact that is reflective of their laid-back nature in contrast to the consistently fast pace of things found in the United States.This laid-back nature, however, is not just found in restaurant culture but also in business culture. During our visit to the city of Padua, my companions and I visited a company called Kering Eyewear, one of the largest eyewear manufacturers in the world, a company carrying this title may lead to the expectation that their employees carry a heavy workload leading to them working at a very efficient pace. This expectation, however, does not hold true, upon arrival the company gave a short presentation followed by a thirty-minute break to eat snacks and converse with one another. In contrast, in the United States, I would expect a company to quickly move through their presentation working to get a group such as ours in and out as quickly as possible in order to maximize their productivity. I found that this laid-back, slower pace made me as a visitor feel more appreciated while also shaping my perspective of other cultures in a significant way.

  The second revelation I had about cultural deviations was in regards to the Italian culture’s lack of awareness regarding security concerns. As a child growing up in the United States I was always told to stick close to my parent’s side as there are always threats around us. This same heightened awareness of security concerns was simply not found in Italian culture, rather during dinner children, often younger than five years old, ran off to play in a city center two blocks away. In one specific example, my group was waiting for our bus and a child tripped and fell, the child lay on the ground crying for several minutes before an adult inquired about the child and even then it was a stranger, the parent never once came to check on the child. It is experiences such as this one which show me just how greatly the United States has shaped my worldview and this trip showed me that every culture does not behave in the same way as my own but yet their way of life works for them and that is okay.

• The experiences I was able to gain during the two weeks in which I traveled through Italy taught me an abundance about the contrast between the culture in the United States and other cultures throughout the world. As an international business major as well as a lover of travel I believe my experiences will significantly enhance both my personal and professional aspirations. As I move forward in my professional career I hope to work with multinational corporations headquartered in many diverse locations throughout the world, my awareness of cultural deviations between European culture and the culture of the United States will most definitely aid me in these endeavors, guiding me in how I should behave in my interactions. Additionally, I hope to continue traveling in the future, both back to Europe as well as Asia and Australia, and the knowledge this experience has allowed me to gain will be critical in ensuring I am always respectful and accepting of cultures which differ greatly from my own. This experience truly helped me develop a new perspective of the world and I plan to carry that knowledge with me, growing with it as I continue to travel, for the rest of my life.