Voices from Abroad: Riccardo Rattellini

Philadelphia, PA (USA), Exchange Program, Wharton School

Philadelphia at night

August 30, 2010. Ten thirty in the morning. Flight LH 426. Waiting to get onboard. Ten hours later I find myself on American soil once again, four years after my high school exchange in Connecticut. The only difference is that this time I landed in Philadelphia and that my Visa is valid for just four months, not a full year. I know that a room is waiting for me in Kings Court English College House. It is a double room, to be precise, but I ignore who my roommate could be. After a quick taxi ride I finally get to unload my luggage in room 423. After such a long trip I had only one question left, ticking in my brain: "Where's the closest Starbucks?"

Here was my arrival on campus at the University of Pennsylvania, marking the beginning of my exchange with the Wharton School, a long-awaited break from the Bocconi routine. Ten days later, my colleagues and I were thrown into the cozy, fast-paced environment that John H. Huntsman Hall (the "Velodromo" for Whartonians) has been providing to UPenn business students for decades. Classes had started and vacation time had relentlessly ended.

Riccardo and friends dressed for a party

The four months I spent in "Philly" have probably been the fullest of my life in terms of both academic engagement and personal enrichment. Academically speaking, rarely had I found myself facing so many challenges on a daily basis. Be sure that cheese steaks and fraternity parties helped me pull through the semester, but the daunting group projects and weekly assignments contributed a great deal to the overall pressure (like a nonstop voice whispering: "Back to studying!"). On the personal side, I learned to appreciate diversity more than I did beforehand. Remember that roommate I did not know anything about? He was from Pittsburgh (PA) but his family originally came to the US from South Korea. He probably was my greatest support in the beginning and I still remember our long chats at night when I was asking him to correct my English. Overall, the typical American campus is a true melting pot of cultures and habits, which you get used to whether you expect it to happen or not.

I cannot figuratively quantify how those four months shaped my academic career and my growth as a person, but I can say with no regrets that my college experience would feel incomplete without an international experience. I encourage all students looking forward to studying abroad to be bold and excited when facing this period of their life.