Voices from Abroad: Francesca Pellegrino

Atlanta (USA), Exchange Program, Emory University-Goizueta Business School
Shanghai (China), Double Degree program DDIM, Fudan University
Shanghai (China), International Internship, ICE Shanghai

Atlanta skyline

Whilst thinking about my experiences abroad, the people I met, the places I visited, I realize that a lot has happened during the past 3 years of university.My first experience was the Exchange program in Atlanta, USA during the first semester of the third year of the Undergraduate course, and I believe it was the right start for a truly international approach to university.It has certainly been an unforgettable period of my life. During the months spent there, I experienced college life, the American culture, its values of openness and freedom, but above all, I met people coming from all over the world, giving me the possibility to live and study in a very multicultural context.All this made me more and more aware of the differences among cultures and countries, but I also had the feeling that everyone was sharing the same experience and wanted to contribute to make it memorable by building strong bonds and friendships that still last even today.

DDIM class group

After an amazing experience in the USA and pushed by the will to pursue an international path, I decided to leave Italy again for China, with the Double Degree program in Shanghai at Fudan University.Then, I also chose to stay in Shanghai for an international internship, at ICE Shanghai, which gave me the opportunity to see this country from a different point of view, helping me understand what is the real power of this economic giant and its relationship with Western countries, in particular Italy. How to describe Shanghai? Given the very controversial and contradictory nature of this place, it is actually difficult to explain it.There are almost 20 million people living and working under an extremely polluted sky, achieving the desire for growth of this amazing and ever surprising country. Shanghai is a city where you can never get bored, full of dynamism and innovation, hectic, futuristic in its buildings but at the same it is also the exact opposite of all this. The Chinese traditions and culture are certainly deep-rooted and they show themselves at each corner of this city, making you see everything under a different light: the language, the street food, the taxi drivers, people walking around in their pyjamas, the old Chinese small houses, the poor living conditions and many other things.

Shanghai skyline

Only when you realize that you need a lot of patience, open-mindedness and a sense of humor to accept these differences, that is the moment in which you understand that this place can teach you a lot on how to deal with the unexpected everyday and to communicate with the people around you, even if they speak a totally different language. Besides, since it was my first time in Asia, I also took the opportunity to discover this continent by traveling in South East Asia, Singapore and Malaysia and doing small trips in China. Each of those places, with its own characteristics, adventures and people, represents a wonderful memory that I will keep for a long time. Having done all these kinds of experiences and trips, I now find myself with the ability to respect and appreciate the differences without any judgment, with a restless curiosity to see and discover new things and a totally new enlarged perception of the world. In conclusion, I would say it was all totally worth it.