WHO AM I?

My Story

Coming to a new country for the first time I was surprised how excited and fearless I felt. Once arriving the culture was better than I expected. I felt like I was in a dream. Unaware of what to expect in my internship, after the first few days I was feeling that I was in over my head. Most Italians don’t know what an Internship is, or understand once I explain. I realized quick that these projects were going to be self-lead and motivated. More than half of my coworkers could not understand me, nor could I understand them. I researched Italian restaurant and work mannerism, but still was nervous to accidentally insult their culture. Since most did not understand why I was working in their restaurant as the first week went on I started to feel less motived, pointless or inadequate.

I decided very quick that I was here to gain experience from this internship, and I was going to do that one way or another. I had to continue to be courageous and step out of my comfort zone even more. I started by deciding exactly what projects would be best for the company and expand my knowledge. I set goals and achieved every single one. I didn’t just accomplish all of them right after I made this decision, it took a lot of different turns and puzzle pieces.

Being in a new country is almost like an escape game. You must be constantly paying attention to subtle hints and keeping an eye out for clues and cues. A big thing this trip has taught me is to be a quick thinker. I gained a better understanding of ambiguity and learned to be more inquisitive to understand my coworkers. I did this a lot by speaking in extremely broken English and being assertive in using abnormal words to get my point across. Putting yourself into another one’s culture is scary, but once breaking past the barriers I discovered just how much I enjoy learning about other people and their lifestyles. I made relationships with people so diverse, making me more curious to learn about other cultures including my own.

Business is a lot about making connections, learning how to conversant with different cultures I showed myself just how much I can adapt to people. A big part of marketing is creativeness, this internship has made me get creative not only in communication but also my work. Mo’ Mo’s was already such an amazing company at first I didn’t see any room for improvement. But I learned there’s always room for perfection, I just had to outthink the competition. I figured out what the competitors were and weren’t doing, then used it to my advantage. I focused on Mo’ Mo’s positive and negative points. Converting the bad to good and emphasizing on the great.

In the end my hard work and independence paid off, I feel very accomplished and confident in my stay here in Sorrento. I not only completed all my projects to my best ability but I have learned so much about this country, business, and myself. I’ve received multiple kudos from my boss, coworkers, and advisors. I feel extremely blessed to have received this experience. I look forward to cherishing the many memories made and lessons learned.

“This internship, institute, and town is so perfect I don’t think I could’ve even fantasy it.” I still stand by that and hope to one day return to this little town.