Penn Abroad Ambassador Alison Liu

Program:

• SA: Bocconi University, Milan, Italy

Ask me about...

• Living in a country where I didn’t speak the language

• Overcoming initial culture shock

• Living in an apartment abroad and apartment hunting in Milan

• Traveling on a budget

My Experience Abroad:

I really enjoyed my academic experience while abroad. I had the chance to take both business classes such as Business Strategy and Diversity Management and other classes such as Geopolitics and Communication and Cultural Consumption. Especially for my Geopolitics class, it was interesting to learn from a European perspective and to see how other people view the world and the US. We covered a lot of world history in that class, and it was fascinating to learn it from the European perspective. Many of my courses also had group projects, allowing me to work with classmates from around Europe. This was such a great way to meet new people and make friends. Overall, being exposed to a new perspective on various academic concepts and working with different people on group projects was a very eye-opening experience. I think that the academics while studying abroad have helped prepare me for the professional world as I will be interacting and working with people from all around the world with diverse perspectives.

Other Highlights:

• Learning how to make pasta in Florence and how to make paella in Barcelona

• Enjoying aperitivo with friends after class

• Trying different foods from around Europe 

• Spontaneous weekend and day trips around Italy

• Watching a fútbol game at San Siro stadium

• Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin

• Solo hiking in Lake Como