Ciao,
A business woman who I met through an event at IES, also my roommates boss, said something at a networking event last Friday afternoon that resonated with me so much that I decided to write a blog about it.
Back tracking…
My roommate Jessie is in the Journalism school at the University of North Carolina back in the US, so her internship placement is with a journalist, Filomina, who is an author of a recently published book. Jessie’s job is to translate the book into English.
26/6/2015: Networking Event at IES
A networking event was set up for the interns and employers of the IES summer program to share what they have been working on in their internship placements. Jessie explained to the group the book she is translating, and then Filomina explained to us her motivation behind writing it.
The book is a collection of stories about women who have left their careers (typically high paying, well-respected jobs) to pursue their dream jobs. Jessie explained her favorite story so far about a woman who opened a bakery to make gluten free food for people suffering from Celiacs disease. She loved baking and knew that there were limited options of food for people suffering from Celiacs here in Italy.
Listening to Filomina talk about these women was inspiring because she explained to our group that “it is our time” (our is referring to women). During her spiel is when she said “the power of passion can change your reality”, AKA my new mantra. The more I thought about this, I connected it to my life. She was right. With passion, you can create your own version of fortune, but that drive is valuable. I believe in doing things that scare you, testing your limits, taking a leap of faith, not only in your career but in all aspects of your life.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs
Other employers at the networking event expressed gratification towards their interns. They explained how cultural exchange is vital. Although it takes time to adjust, it is an asset for both the student interns, and the companies of our employers. They shared about how much we have to offer being responsible students and employees- which is true. Not to toot our own horn, but this made me think about all of the hard work I (and all other study abroad students) put in to getting to our abroad destinations. Jet lag and culture shock are not the necessarily the hardest parts about studying abroad- the application process through your home school and your abroad program is tedious and time consuming. Each of us worked hard to get here, and now are focusing time and energy on learning in this new work environment. It is something to be proud of, and I am grateful for the internship employers here, as well as my study abroad experience, that made me realize this.
NIHMP
My internship is going really well. On the 30th of June I recorded the minutes of the South European Network for Health Inequalities meeting, and I gave doctors and professors from France, Greece, Slovenia, England, Portugal, and Morocco a tour of Saint Marias church in Rome. Each person I met that day offered me a lot of insight and advice, and taught me so much about their nations. They told me about things that you barely see on the news in America, also things that made me grateful to call America home. In my last post I said something along the lines of “I don’t want to act too American and embarrass myself”, now I see that being an American is nothing to be embarrassed of.
Left to Right: Dr. Marmot, researcher, professor, and director of UCL Institute of Health Equity in London; Dr. Mertens of the World Health Organization; Dr. Yfantopoulos, professor at University of Athen
Also, they recognized Penn State after they asked where I studied, which gave me even more of a reason to be Penn State Proud.
I have been helping with research on candida in the lab here as well. We make slides of the epithelial cells, both infected and non infected with candida, treat them with antibodies and observe the effects under a microscope. This microscope shows zeta space (3D pictures of the cell) which keeps me preoccupied for hours. The microbiologist, Dr. Calcaterra, has taught me so much since I wrote last, which I am so grateful for. For my science people: You can check out her published research here if you are interested http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=calcaterra+R
Until next time,
Michelle xo
Location: Rome, Italy
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