Voices from Abroad: Giulia Torre

Brussels (Belgium), International Internship, consulting company
Budapest (Hungary), CEMS Program,CornivusUniversity

What can I say about going abroad that has not yet been said? The arguments that are brought forward when trying to explain an international experience are various, but often quite repetitive and expected.

I have gone through a few international experiences and the best way to describe them, as I see it, is that no one was similar to the other. I can say I have been brought up on "bread and internationalization," if we can say so, since I started school at the age of two at an international pre-nursery. I then attended my last two years of high school in the United World College of Singapore. And finally, after four years at Bocconi, I lived in two countries (Hungary and Belgium) in less than a year thanks to the CEMS Master Program. These are my most important international experiences summarized in the shortest possible way.

What have I learnt and why would I recommend such experiences? I do not deny the "usual" arguments that are heard when tackling such issues: growth, openness of mind and general experience. Nevertheless, what I can recognize as the common thread of my experiences is the thrill. The thrill that develops inside when an international opportunity is even considered, how it grows when it actually comes true ("oh dear I have REALLY been accepted?!") and most of all, the feeling that accompanies you all through your experiences abroad. Going abroad not only makes you understand a new culture, but help you analyze your own in a more conscious way as you now have the means for a true comparison.

For example, I never understood deep down inside the importance of history to the Italian culture before I lived two years in Singapore, that has been an independent country for barely fifty years. I then learnt not to judge too easily from first impressions in Hungary, where the owner of the convenience shop under my house softened his hard face as soon as I spoke a few struggling words of Hungarian to him.

These events, on top of making you more flexible and practical, broaden your way of seeing things. This is helpful in every sphere, including academics. For example, my final essay in my Bocconi undergraduate program focused on the innovative organizational manners inside a Brazilian firm, and my experiences abroad helped me understand the impact that the geographical and location settings on a deeper level. At the moment I am carrying out an internship in a consulting company in Brussels, that, among other things, represents two Czech Regions in Brussels. How melting pot is that? It takes a flexible mind to see how Italians can represent Czechs at the European Institutions in the setting of a company that was founded in London!

At this point of my description of these experiences, the risk of becoming repetitive and expected is very high – so I'll just stick to the facts. If you are interested in getting to know a place other than the one you have been brought up in and, above all, you are keen to see how you will react and cope with new experiences, keep your eyes open! Many experiences require you to be ready with applications (and often language tests!) well ahead of departure. So my best advice is to keep informed at all times of what your options are and truly understand what you are looking for in an international experience.