Voices from Abroad: Stefano Filomeni

Shanghai (China), Campus Abroad Program, Fudan University
Columbus, Ohio (USA), Exchange Program, Ohio State University - Fisher College of Business
Singapore (Singapore), Campus Abroad Program, National University

Stefano poses on the Ohio State campus

My name is Stefano Filomeni and I am attending an MSc in IM entirely taught in English. During my five-year long university period at Bocconi, I have expressed my willingness on several occasions to participate in the wide range of study abroad opportunities offered by Bocconi since I have always been very interested in getting to know and understanding other international cultures. During my Bachelor program, I successfully attended the Campus Abroad Program at Fudan University, Shanghai (China) in July 2007, as well as a four-month long Exchange Program at The Ohio State University - Fisher College of Business in Columbus, Ohio (USA), from September 2007 through December 2007. In addition to the these experiences, during my first year of the Master of Science in International Management (July 2009), I joined a second Campus Abroad Program, this time in Singapore at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Through this experience, I had the chance to get in touch with Asian culture for the second time in my life and to successfully pass an exam in Investment Banking that increased my willingness and curiosity in enhancing my international knowledge about this subject. Moreover, this experience gave me the opportunity to meet the professor who will be the supervisor formy final MSc thesis.

A view of the Singapore skyline

Through these life and learning experiences, I had the opportunity to get in touch with an entirely new set of cultures, mindsets, attitudes and life-inspiring values that gave me the chance both to live my life and to approach everyday events by considering multiple perspectives and points of view, thus giving me full all-around reasoning abilities. In particular, traveling gave me an increasingly global view of the world economy as nowadays managers find themselves in the position of considering not only a mere domestic perspective in their decision-making process, but also an international perspective by evaluating the new opportunities that can be taken advantage of in global world-wide markets. I would strongly recommend prospective study abroad students to be enthusiastic about all the opportunities that Bocconi gives you each year in terms of studying in a foreign country. And you should be willing to live your upcoming experiences to the fullest without feeling uncertain or homesick, since it is through these that you as a person will grow in terms of wisdom, personal aptitudes and technical skills.