Learning outside the classroom has been a huge part of my experience in Florence, but I want to talk about my experience of being inside the classroom at CEA Capa. I am currently taking four classes here in Italy. Those classes are Italian 101, Beginning Oil Painting, Business Consulting, and International Marketing.
Starting with Italian 101, it is a Pitt-only class. This means that only Pitt students are enrolled in the course, and we have a professor from Pitt. I could not say enough good things about this class. I am eager to show up and learn every day in this course, where Professor Jenny greets us with a big smile. We have the class three times a week for 50-minute periods. I have always loved taking language courses and am excited to be back in one since I have not in years. While learning a new language can be difficult, Jenny makes sure we understand and aren’t intimidated by this new material. Taking this course is allowing me to adjust a little better by getting more familiar with the Italian culture.
The next class I am enrolled in is beginning oil painting. I never would have thought I would have the opportunity to take a course like this in college, and I am thrilled about it. I do not hold any artistic ability to my name, but that is not needed for this class. As a beginner, we have so far been introduced to sketching and shading. We create paintings that pertain to the color wheel and the value scale. I even learned that mixing blue, yellow, and magenta creates a very dark grey or almost black color! I am excited to learn more about oil painting and see my progress as the semester continues.
My third course is a new course CEA Capa Florence is offering, which is business consulting. This class is different from any course I have taken before in the best way. In this class, we are teamed up with a real up-and-coming business in Florence, Italy. A brief description of this company is that it is called Menaboh. Menaboh is a personalized fashion company that focuses on upcycling. The creator’s idea is that consumers who hold on to unworn valuable clothing pieces can be reworked into a new piece while still holding its sentimental value. An example she uses is that she found her mother’s old vintage clothing pieces and tailored them to fit her body and her style. As students, our goal is to consult and analyze her company and get her to the goals she needs to meet. We have weekly presentations in groups to present our data and ideas gathered; then, we are creating one big presentation to present to the owner soon. Business consulting is a great crossover between a standard CEA Capa course and an internship because we meet twice a week for an hour and 20 minutes, but we are working with a real situation.
My final course is international Marketing. As a marketing major, I am excited to continue this course. Focusing on the global side of marketing is interesting, and filled with tons of information. This class is counted as one of my major elective courses and we meet once a week for 2 hours and 50 minutes. I am eager to apply what I have learned from Pitt’s other marketing courses and apply it to the Florence classroom.
Adaptability is very important in this academic environment because things are different here. Classroom etiquette is not quite the same, so it is important to learn and adjust to these changes positively.
