Bonjourno from Florence, Italy! My name is Reilly McCloskey. I am a junior at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in Accounting and Business Information Systems with a minor in Law, Criminal Justice, and Society. While at Pitt, I have gotten involved in Phi Beta Lambda, a business fraternity, and Kappa Kappa Gamma, a sorority. I will be interning this upcoming summer of 2024 with Ernst & Young, and I am excited to explore new opportunities and be engaged in the workforce. I like to read, travel, hike, and listen to music in my free time.
I am beyond grateful to be a part of Pitt’s Global Business Institute’s Florence semester program. It has been a dream of mine to study abroad since high school, and I have always wanted to go to a destination in Italy. I chose this particular program because it is specified for business majors, and since I fall into that category, it would be interesting to take business classes abroad. In Florence, I am attending CEA CAPA, a study abroad school that offers me this experience. I took Beginning Italian, Global Workforce Management, Cross-Cultural Psychology, Analyzing and Exploring the Global City, and Beginning Drawing during the program.
My goals during my time in Italy are (1) to immerse myself in the culture. I want to be able to understand the Italian culture intimately. I want to connect with the locals and bring back lessons about cultural differences back home. (2) I want to leave my comfort zone of living at home. I have lived with my parents for the past 20 years, and our only separation was when I went to college. Now, I am on a different continent with a time zone change, which makes it hard to communicate with family members at home. I am excited to see how I will grow and become more independent from this experience.
Currently, I see few differences between Pitt and CEA CAPA. The reason is that the classes are all taught in English, and the students are all from universities in the United States. The only minor differences are that some professors have deep accents, and the classes are 3 hours long. The class time is taking me the longest to get accustomed to.
I live in a neighborhood called Santa Croce, about 10 minutes from the center of the city. The apartment is fantastic as it is historic and contains frescoes on the ceilings, an easel, a pool table, high ceilings, and windows. It is different from all apartments in the United States, but I love the change. I live with four other girls attending the University of Pittsburgh. We all met before coming to Italy and have only gotten closer since arriving. Up to this point, I have adjusted to Florence well and have had such a fantastic experience. I can’t wait to explore more.
