What a Month Abroad Has Taught Me

Stepping off the plane in the Venice Airport exactly one month ago, I had no idea what was in store for me. I had never been to Europe or a country where I did not speak the native language. I was nervous, anxious, but most of all excited for what was to come. Looking back, I was so naive to the wonders of traveling and now upon reflection I can really see just how much I have learned.

Throughout my time here, I can say I am confident in my Italian Train Station abilities. I can order at restaurants and have a decent idea of what food I am getting, know the norms of shopping (not touching the fruit!), and how to communicate efficiently through google translate. I also learned a lot about myself as a person. When you fully immerse yourself into a new culture, you develop empathy and understanding for others. This is helpful for communication and collaboration in the workplace where there is an assortment of personalities and work styles. I feel more confident in my abilities to adapt to new situations and take on stressful tasks. I watched people I travelled with react to stressors in various ways, which provided me with the opportunity to navigate difficult situations while being mindful of how others are feeling. Throughout my travels, I also further developed my cross-cultural communication skills as I was constantly interacting with people from different cultures and backgrounds.

In the classroom however, I learned about a new set of ideas. In Molly Rapert 's Global Consumer course, we covered a wide variety of topics. We started with the global marketplace in China which touched on topics like the Belt Road Initiative, social credit scores, wolf warriors, forgotten children, and China's global development initiative. We then went into Africa and discussed the recruitment of children soldiers, Africa in the next millennium, and read A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. With these topics, we were able to assess the vast differences and commonalities within the global marketplace. As an International Business major, this is something I found fascinating and I am confident I will use what I learned here in my future studies. I also took Swinder Janda 's International Marketing class which paired well with The Global Consumer, as there were overlaps in what I was learning from different perspectives.

With CIMBA, I am now a part of an expansive network of alums who recognize the importance of the community that CIMBA has created. I am recharged and inspired by my fellow peers and teachers like Dr. Rapert who are so passionate about what they are teaching. CIMBA gave me the opportunity to be surrounded by brilliant individuals who motivate and encourage me to learn more about the world and myself. The lasting effects that studying abroad will have on me is not something that I can recognize in its entirety today, but is something that will follow me through the rest of my career and life.

Emma Rick is currently an undergraduate student in Honors Walton College studying International Business with a concentration in Marketing and minoring in Spanish. Emma is currently studying abroad at CIMBA in Paderno Del Grappa, Italy.