My undergraduate college experience

How Lynn University shaped me both professionally and personally

Experiencing my undergraduate college years as an international student from Italy at Lynn University has been an extraordinary opportunity. Despite visiting the campus and learning about what the university offered, as an Italian student, I knew little about the area, the culture, and the overall US system when I first started as a first-year student. Thinking of who I am now, I cannot believe how being a part of the Lynn University community shaped me as an individual.

When someone asks, “What is the best aspect of Lynn University,” I always say it is the incredible diversity that makes the university stand out. Lynn is a home for international students, faculty, coaches, and employees with individuals from all around the world. The community is a small family filled with members coming from different backgrounds and sharing their unique stories. This international community strongly shaped me as an individual from many perspectives. I learned to be a very open-minded person by getting to know a variety of individuals and learn about where they were coming from. I knew little about countries and people outside Europe before coming to Lynn, but now I have amazing friends from Hawaii, Switzerland, Honduras, Canada, France and Colombia to just name some. I have embraced multiple cultures, and by leaning into my time into the American experience, I have improved my English fluency. However, what makes me proudest, is how immersed I became in the Latin American culture, which is very popular here in South Florida due to the closing distance to Central and South America. I learned how to speak Spanish and was able to connect with many Spanish speakers. The network I built personally and professionally over the past three years at Lynn is unbelievable; I thank the university for promoting diversity, which I am very passionate about, and strongly support.

Secondly, the international melting pot cultivated by Lynn University has helped me identify my strengths. During my time at Lynn, I have discovered my strong passion for people and the connections I make. Joining daily conversations with individuals energizes and invigorates me, and living in an on-campus community makes me the positive person I am every day.

Additionally, a significant factor that shaped my success at Lynn is the perfect balance between classes, work, and social life. During my time at the university, I have always worked and gone to class simultaneously. I consider it extremely important for my personal development. However, there are many more special and unique attributes Lynn has to offer that make me want to stay and will keep preparing me for my career. This has helped me apply what I was learning in class and what I was doing in my various student leadership positions and jobs. Building experience as a student to better improve myself before entering the workforce is fundamental, and through various opportunities on and off-campus, Lynn reinforces the importance of being well-rounded when entering the workforce.

Also, the university is very innovative, and being the first school in the country to shift from books to iPad, learning is a big step. The evolution of technology, sped up even faster with the Coronavirus Pandemic, is integrating electronic devices as a must-have in a human being’s life. Lynn University is setting up students for success by teaching us to use and work with technology.

Overall, Lynn University profoundly shaped me and made me the person I am proud to be today, thanks to the commitment to diversity, individuality, and the family-focused environment. At Lynn, things are done differently, and originality always stands out, and in that, I recognize myself. One of my bosses once said something very important that made me reflect: “it does not matter that much where you go to college, but how you, as an individual, decide what type of experience you want to have.” I found my home as a Fighting Knight, and I became very passionate about the school. It has been both fulfilling and fantastic to positively impact the university and the on-campus community, continue to learn, and improve myself by taking advantage of the extraordinary opportunities that my now alma mater offers.