Annabella Chesare
Language and International Business
College of Arts and Humanities
"Chi lascia la via vecchia per la nuova, sa quel che lascia, ma non sa quel che trova."
-Giuseppe Giacosa
Study Abroad
September 2025 - December 2025
Milan, Italy
Language Goals Comparison
Before I entered the plane headed towards Milan, Italy on August 31st, I had a long list of goals and aspirations I was passionate about striving towards and--fingers crossed--meeting while I spent three and a half months studying and working there. During my time there, there were three main desires and goals I set for myself: (1)tremendously improve my competence and fluency in Italian, (2) push myself outside of my comfort zone, and (3) find comfort in the different culture that I assimilated myself into for three and a half months. An example of my desire to grow for fluent in Italian came mostly from the people I centered myself around. I had chosen to live with a host family and intern helping with the social media of a small business nestled in the outskirts of Milan. Solely living with an Italian family and working for an Italian company checked off all three of my main goals. I was given the opportunity to improve my language proficiency, I forced myself to step out of my comport zone around them, and I was given a glimpse into the life of Italian families and the work culture within the walls of a business. With all of this in mind, I truly don't believe that my goals and aspirations have changed since I returned home. I still have a desire to grow and learn in Italian, I still want to push myself to be a better version of myself everyday. The only goal I had that has changed is the third goal. It is hard to grow in a culture that one is not apart of at the current moment. I think that goal has now changed to never forgetting that culture in hopes that I may return to Italy.
Cultural Similarities and Differences
My host family had become a second family to me while I studied and worked in Milan. They also had given me complete and profound insight into the culture and way of life they had in Italy. One thing that stood out to me was sustainability. There were a lot of things that Italians legally had to do that seemed to contrast the way of life that American have. Every Italian was legally made to recycle everything they were throwing away, they were only allowed to use the heat between October and April, and not owning a dryer--instead, hanging clothes to dry--was an everyday norm for them. Another thing I wanted to highlight was one from the workplace. Contrast to how the United States has a task-based work cultures, Italy has more of a relationship-based culture. For example, my supervisor had 15 to 20 minutes carved out of my 3 hour shifts that he liked to call "coffee time" (he would also clap every time he said it) and we would drink coffee and talk. Another instance was when we had aperitivo together a handful of times throughout my time working for them. However, through all of the differences in culture that I saw, there were a few things that were quite similar to the American. The deep-rooted family values was something that I noticed that the Italian culture shared with the American culture. The family I stayed with had a son who was studying in Vancouver during the time that I was studying and they would call each other three times a day for the entire time that he was away. Another example is every day, they would all come home from work and school to each and have lunch with each other before heading back. That is different from the way that Americans would eat lunch but it shows how tight-knitted Italians are, like I believe Americans are too.
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Meaningful Moment
One experience during my time in Milan was when my host parents took me to their mountain house in Bellagio for the weekend in December. Italy in the winter is something that I loved from the beginning and getting to see it in the mountains was something beyond comprehension for me. I got to try a lot of new things during those short few days--such as, Vin Brule, Giardiniera--and got to see things I never thought I would--like Lake Como at night as the lights of towns across the lake twinkled across the surface of the lake. I got to climb a mountain for the first time while I was there and visit small cities that I would never have thought of if I wasn't with my host parents. It was the moment during my experience that I knew moving to Italy was something that I would love to do in the future! I was immensely grateful that I was given the chance to go with my host parents, though I was saddened by the fact that it was my last trip while in Italy. This hadn't been the first time I was saddened by the realization of how close I was to leaving though. My host mom's birthday is November 25th and she invited all of her family to dinner to celebrate. I had just gotten back home from my internship and was given a seat at the table. The sound of laughter and Italian filled the room and I took a moment to just watch everyone: every person that I had seen as my second family while I was there. I felt a pang of heartbreak within my chest knowing that in a month from then, I wouldn't see any of these people for a while. I didn't know when the next time I would see them.
Challenge I had Overcome
One challenge that I was met with at least six times while I was in Milan was strikes. My host family lived just south of the city center, my school was in the north western part of the city while my internship was in the north eastern part of the city. Suffice to say: everything was a bit far from each other. On several occasions throughout the three and half months, the metro had shut down between certain times of the day because divers were striking. Each time, I had to quickly figure out how to get back to home. There was one time where I walked home and it took 40 minutes. Another time my host dad had to come pick me up. However, the majority of the time, I would order Ubers. It was something that I never experienced in the United States and it took the first few times to get used to what to do when the metros weren't running. It was a bit difficult for me depending on if I was at school or at work but I figured out what was easiest and best for me!
My Experience Abroad
This experience made me think better about myself and how I handled certain problems or issues. I felt like I became more confident in myself and more willing to speak up. I believe that having to speak for myself in another language made it easier for me to do the same thing in my native language. It brought me more confidence when I heard it come from other people around me. I remember after I got my score on my Italian exam back, my professor told me how impressed she was on how I was improving. Another instance was one after a problem I was facing. My host mom took time out of her day and talked with me about the issue. It made me feel like I was stronger and smarter than I thought I was. It made me notice that I had people in Italy who stood by my side and cheered me on even when I was down or when I thought I was failing. It made me feel confident in myself even when everything around me was trying to make me feel otherwise.
How Italy Enriched my Academic Experience
When I got to Italy, I had only studied for two years. The majority of the students in my Italian class had been learning the language for well over five years--one student grew up speaking Italian. Suffice to say: I felt overwhelmed and unqualified. However, I persevered and worked hard in that class. In addition, I had been in an Italian cinema class where we watched movies and wrote commentary. It was such an amazing experience--with only three of us in the class and a sweet old Italian man teaching the class. When I returned to the United States and entered into my last semester, all of my classes were Italian based. I walked into those classes with a new found confidence in myself that I had never felt before. I was excited and ready for what these classes brought and thought the semester, I could feel my confidence in the Italian language, my effort, and my determination grow into something greater than I could ever imagine.
