Hello again everyone, this is Cameron checking in again from Florence. After almost a month now of living abroad, plenty of differences culturally, educationally, and personally have come to light. I was not lucky enough to secure a professional internship during my time in Florence, however I have become aware of my fair share of differences between the educational and business world that the distinguish Italy from the United States. I am currently enrolled in four classes which all contribute to my progress towards my degree. International Finance is a course required for every student pursuing a finance degree at Pitt, but I am grateful to be able to take it in a true international setting. My certificate in Global Economy and Governance requires me to take the course Global Workforce Management, and fulfill a language credit for which I am taking Italian. Once again, taking this course in a setting in which the American perspective is not the main priority has been extremely beneficial and eye-opening. While Pitt requires all students abroad to take Italian, the requirement has proven very useful in navigating the city and connecting with locals in a way in which they are comfortable and familiar. My film minor allows me to fulfill an elective credit in Florence, so I am taking Contemporary Italian Cinemas which has been surprisingly revealing when it comes to understanding the values, beliefs, and norms amongst Italian citizens.

I think the most glaring difference between the education provided here in Italy and the education provided in United States is the trust put within the students from the professors. Professors trust students to represent themselves in a very adult way, and offer a lot of freedom inside and outside of the classroom. The structure of our class schedules are particularly interesting. Out of the classes listed above, three of them are only held once a week for a three hour period. Italian is the only class that is held more than one time within a week. This presents us students with a feeling of freedom, but also a need to be responsible. There is plenty expected of us outside of the classroom, from reviewing case studies, watching movies, and studying individual companies. This assignments are not graded for credit, but expected to be completed before our class period so we can truly grasp the concepts reviewed during lecture. As students, we need to be extremely responsible and time conscious in order to stay on top of the work we are expected to do. I believe this is very effective however. When your professor displays a sense of trust and expectations for you as a students, it is validating and almost motivational to capitalize on the resources and studies provided to us for review.

In addition to being responsible and mindful of what is expected of you, it is also important to reciprocate the sense of understanding and freedom to your professors. All of my professors are native born Italian citizens, speaking Italian as this first language. As a professional it is expected of you to be able to communicate properly in different languages than your own, but it is paramount to remind yourself that nobody is perfect. Professors are humans too, not robots, so they make mistakes or will have lapses in communication that may be confusing to American students. I truly believe that the best ability is availability, and that has never been more true in Italy as a foreign student. You need to be available to your professors, and be prepared to communicate with them at every turn. They are extremely understanding when you mention that you missed a concept that may have been difficult to grasp. However, if you are not the one to approach your professor and connect with them personally, they have no way of being aware of your struggles. They are more than happy to speak with you after class, over email, or even on zoom to explore ideas that are not normal in America. It has been extremely beneficial for me to reach out to my professors outside of the classroom, not only for my own benefit, but to also show them that myself and others are engaged in class lecture, and grateful for the opportunity presented to us. My peers and I are extremely lucky to be able to learn from these professionals, and I want them to be able to understand that gratitude.