Since my first blog post, a lot has happened that has taught me a lot about global business and connections as a whole. During my time in Italy, I was a part of a group project where we were tasked with helping a local wine bar in Florence with a few problems that they have been experiencing. My group gave a presentation on the final day of class to the entire program and one of the owners of the wine bar. We pitched ideas of solving their challenges with marketing and reservation cancellations. After the presentation, all of my group’s hard work throughout the program was rewarded with the reaction from the owner. He immediately stood up once our presentation was over and hugged each group member thanking us and even asked for our contact information. This was one of the most rewarding experiences that I have experienced during my time at Mays, and I am so glad I was able to be part of it. This past month has changed my view on global business and that in Italy especially. Italians take so much more pride in their businesses than I ever would have expected. They really care about their customers, and the owner of the wine bar showed me how much he cared about us as well. Also, after our consulting project was over, we had our international finance final exam. During this exam, we were able to showcase everything we learned throughout the month and did well with the material given. After our final presentation and exam were over, we had an amazing farewell dinner at a Florentine steakhouse, where everyone in the program was able to chat one last time before leaving for the United States. The dinner was bittersweet because all of the hard work from the program was rewarded, but it was tough to leave all of the amazing people involved. The teachers, Dr. Katy Lane and Dr. Marco Rossi, were especially important to my incredible experience in Italy, and I am so glad that I participated and would recommend it to anyone who is considering the program.
