UF in Paris - Business
The first study abroad program I embarked upon was through UF’s Business School and it allowed me to learn some principles of marketing and management while living in Paris. The City of Lights’ business environment is an exciting and innovative one, where practices are delineated by strict protocols while still being a place where people put a strong emphasis on common sense and being able to express oneself to find the most logical solution to a problem.
UF in Germany - The Rhine in European History
Less than two years later, itching with a need to challenge myself and explore somewhere I had never been before, I attended a short-term, history-based study abroad program in Germany. Contrary to what I was used to in Italy and France, Germany has an almost obsessively efficient approach to things like logistics and the supply chain, something I was able to observe during our site visit to the pharmaceutical giant Bayer’s plant in Leverkusen. In this industrial town inhabited by twelve thousand employees, the company controls everything from the local train station to a dedicated police and fire department, as well as the more obvious chemical treatment facilities and business offices. The vertical integration exhibited by Bayer is a great representation of the importance of top-down control in German business culture.
International Scholars Program
To tie together my study abroad experiences and my language studies, I decided to join the International Scholars Program at the University of Florida, a multidisciplinary commencement medallion intended to encourage students to internationalize their degree. Being a part of this program has allowed me to attend networking events where students from all over the world come together and discuss things like cultural differences and business practices across the globe. During these events, I was able to connect with people who showed me a side of global trade which I wouldn’t otherwise have known about. Ultimately, these interactions also revealed how my whole undergraduate career culminated with my interest in international business.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES
Where I've been
I have had the honor and the opportunity to amass several formative international experiences, both in and outside of the classroom. The earliest and most impactful of these has been being born and raised in Rome, as I have lived there until my teenage years. Growing up in the Italian capital gave me tremendous insight into the economy of a European country and taught me some key characteristics of the Italian way of doing business, such as the importance of rhetoric in human interaction or the prioritization of networking, which are different from the more direct type of communication and result-based practices common in the United States. However, my international experiences extend well beyond my adolescent years.
Welcome!
I am currently a Senior Associate in PwC's Management Consulting practice, where I help advise senior executives at global financial institutions on how to digitally transform their operations and mitigate risks. My higher education started with the University of Florida, from which I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration along with a concentration in Health Studies and a minor in French and Francophone Studies. I later attended the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, where I earned a Master of International Business with a focus on International Strategy and Organizational Leadership.
This website is a way for me to reflect on and explain to the world the multitude of ways in which I have expanded my cultural horizons. These include my passion for language-learning, the study abroad programs I have completed, and other academic and extracurricular activities I have engaged in throughout my undergraduate career.
I hope you can enjoy this journey with me and, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch!
How I Communicate
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
One of the aspects of international business that interests me most is the ability to communicate across both cultural and language barriers while maintaining the integrity and nuances of the original message. For this reason, I have dedicated a large part of my academic life to studying different languages and have achieved fluency in English, Spanish, and French, with Italian being my first language. Furthermore, to push myself outside the comfort zone of the romance languages, I spent a semester learning some of the basics of Mandarin Chinese and intend to continue pursuing mastery of this idiom as I believe it will be increasingly important to be able to conduct business across the globe.
My motivation for putting so much emphasis on studying foreign languages stems from having personally witnessed the marked difference between communicating with someone from a foreign country in English compared to doing so in their mother tongue. The most obvious example of this was a little experiment I ran while studying abroad in France. I noticed that if I started a dialogue in English, my conversation partner tended to be more standoffish and was more likely to employ a condescending tone. However, if I spoke to them in French, we had a much more pleasant conversation and they were more likely to open up about themselves, be personable, and give me accurate directions if needed, despite the fact that they often noticed my unusual accent. Albeit anecdotal, this experience showed me that speaking a foreign language is important not only to be understood, but also to show the other person that you are actively trying to connect with them and see things from their point of view.
The lessons I learned in my language classes and my experiences abroad have taught me that a language is much more than a simple means to exchange messages. In fact, a culture’s language contains many contextual clues that, if misconstrued, can completely change the meaning of what is being said. As such, if one wants to conduct business across cultural barriers, it is pivotal to learn the local language to show good will and build trust with the community that is supposed to help the venture succeed.
What I've Learned
INTERNATIONAL COURSEWORK
Art and Architecture in Paris
FRE4956
This has been one of my favorite classes of my college career. While many people are introduced to their passion for the arts in an academic setting, very few are able to do so while viewing firsthand the original works of art that shaped history forever and appreciating their most minute details.
Contemporary French Culture
FRE3564
An excellent way to advance my academic knowledge of the French language, FRE3564 was a reflection of how history has shaped France into the culturally unique country that it is today. While surveying everything from civil engineering to politics to hip hop, this class has taught me just how complex and full of history a culture can be.
German History Along the Rhine
EUS3938
I took this class as part of my study abroad trip to Germany. Having visited several cities including Bonn, Mainz, Frankfurt, and Leverkusen, we were able to understand, in part, what has shaped Germany into the country that it is today, and how it has learned from its past mistakes to become Europe's most powerful economy.
GET IN TOUCH
For any questions, comments, or opportunities for us to work together, please contact me!
Where I’ve Learned It
EDUCATION
MA IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS,
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In January 2018, I began my journey with the Masters in International Business at the Darla Moore School of Business in Columbia, SC. In this program, I learned more about how to navigate the world's intricate markets with confidence and cultural sensibility.
BA BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION,Â
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
As I reflect back on my undergraduate career, which was completed in December 2017, few opportunities stand out more than having had the ability to obtain an education in both science and the humanities. With my degree in Business Administration with a concentration in the pre-medical sciences, I have built a strong analytical base which will be immensely helpful in quantifying problems and identifying solutions in a fast-paced, technology-oriented modern world.