Voices from Abroad: Valentina Piacentini

Barcelona (Spain), THEMIS, ESADE

Valentina at Parc Guell

I just came back from Barcelona few weeks ago and it was terribly difficult to restart my "ordinary" life. First of all because of the climate, it was shocking to pass suddenly to the freezing Milan once you were used to the warm temperatures of Catalunya (around 20 degrees in December!).

Apart from this, it was hard to readapt after a wonderful semester in Barcelona, in one of the most important universities in Europe, Facultad de Derecho Esade.
It was my first experience abroad and I had the chance to take part in the prestigious Themis program, which is composed by one semester abroad, a seminar in one of the universities of the network and an internship which must have an international content. At the end I will receive a joint certificate in international and business law released by all the universities of the network, which is extremely important for my professional CV.

However this was above all an extraordinary personal experience.
I lived in an international environment both at school and at home: 6 flatmates of five different nationalities, very similar to the movie "The Spanish Flat", if you have ever seen it!

I improved my English greatly and learned a new language, Spanish, passing 7 exams in both languages. In addition, Esade offered us two weeks of Spanish language intensive courses.

Esade and Bocconi have a very similar history, because they both were born as business schools and then also opened the law faculty, so they both have an interdisciplinary approach to law and economics.

Casa Milà, La Pedrera by Antoni Gaudí

At Esade I had the possibility to follow interactive courses in small classes, from 7 to 20 students and this enabled us to create personal relationships with the professors.
In particular I followed one course, Legal Ethics, which was hard, because we had to prepare readings of an average of 30 pages twice a week, but then we had the possibility to have a real dialogue with the teacher and to discuss, feeling at the same level. This way the professor used our observations and doubts to explain the subject. I simply loved it!

In general the teachers wanted us to intervene in class, discuss and ask questions. Furthermore I had to make an oral presentation in class for almost each course and this forced me to get used to speaking in public, being clear and synthetic, which is essential for jurists. We even had to simulate contractual negotiations working on hypothetical cases.

It was really a challenge for me because I am shy and used to traditional exams.
With regards to the city, in Barcelona you can take in a wonderful Latin atmosphere, it is full of Erasmus students of any nationality, it is so alive and stimulating. I could never forget the nights spent on the beach with friends coming from Germany, France, USA, Scandinavia and many more, the fantastic landscape enjoyed from Parc Guell, people dancing tango in hidden cosy clubs, the small evocative streets of El Born. I could never stop listing all the sensations Barcelona is able to evoke in me.
Finally, I was extremely proud to discover that teachers at Esade considered us, Italian students, as the best students and appreciated us for our culture, preparation, approach and determination.

I have to thank Bocconi for this and I suggest you to apply for the Themis program in Esade for a countless number of reasons, and for this one in particular: to confirm year by year the excellent reputation we have gained there.