Growth in Paderno Del Grappa

As the end draws near, and people begin packing their bags for the journey home, I can’t help but think about all this program has given me. Personally, professionally, and academically I have grown so much since I first arrived on the CIMBA campus. Although I am saddened with the thought of my time here coming to an end, I am grateful for how much CIMBA has shaped me in my short time here.

Since being in Italy, I have been reminded of the power of kindness. With the language barrier posing an issue everywhere I would go, I needed to learn a different way of communicating. This was through smiling. Everyone over here has been very friendly, and they usually know more English than I do Italian. But when we didn’t understand what the other was saying, a laugh and a smile almost always helped the situation. This was proven true when a piece of the mountain fell onto our train tracks in Lake Como, leaving our only transportation option a ferry. Of course, the last ferry had left an hour before we needed it. The lady could see the distress on the faces of my friends and I, and somehow called and turned the ferry around for us. She smiled and waved us goodbye as we jumped up and down, yelling “Grazie!” more times than we could count. She had no reason to help us, but her kindness made our weekend possible.

The companies I have been able to visit with both Molly Rapert and Heather Nelson's classes have opened my eyes and shown me how different companies can be run in very different ways, but both still be successful. I was able to tour La Ceramica VBC, an Italian ceramics company who handcrafts each and every one of their pieces. At La Ceramica, there is a painter named Gianfranco Alberti who joined the company the year it was founded, in 1979. He is retired, but still contributes to the 13 person team with his painting skills. I also had the opportunity to tour Hausbrandt, an Italian coffee brand that utilizes lots of machinery in their factories. They have a lot of younger people in high positions on their staff, which is different than what I observed at La Ceramica. Seeing how both of these Italian companies have been successful has taught me how there isn’t just one right way of carrying out business.

In Molly Rapert’s Global Consumer seminar, I gained knowledge about an extensive range of topics I had known nothing about prior. We discussed topics such as China A vs China B, child soldiers in Africa, The Belt and Road Initiative, social credit scores in China, and many other extremely prevalent issues. Reflecting on how I was unaware of any of this going on around me has humbled me, and made me open my eyes to the bigger picture. There is so much going on in the world that is of great importance, and after this course I believe I have definitely regained my love for learning.

There is a cheesy, cliche, yet so accurate quote from Winnie the Pooh that always seems to float to the front of my brain when another chapter closes in my life. “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard”. Leaving CIMBA is going to be very difficult, as I have grown to love this campus and all the people that fill it. This program has had an impact on me in more ways than I can count, and I will forever be grateful for my time spent here in Paderno Del Grappa.