Giovanna is an Italian girl who found her way to Romania through her uncle. She wanted to explore our country and to see how the work environment is here. She is 23 years old and she comes from a small city in the south part of Italy.

We asked Giovanna a few questions about her studies in Italy and her life there.

• How was your early live as a pupil in Italy?

In Italy, the middle school is for 3 years and the high school is for 5 years. So, I finished the high school when I was 17 years old. I did not like that the schools had a standard structure; I think that guys need to explore their interests at the school too. Generally, in Italy, at this school level there is a widespread bullying phenomenon due to closed mind to diversity or simply bad habits. Maybe, the problem starts in family where the parents are not able to give to their children a correct education and point of view.

• What did you study after the high school?

I studied Communication Science for the bachelor’s degree at the University of Fisciano in Salerno. And now I am finishing the master’s in marketing & Communication at IULM University, specialized in Brand Management.

• How can you describe the years spent in university?

The University of Fisciano is one of the biggest and most modern university in the southern part. That is why I can say that I did not have the same experience of a normal teen who attends a public university in Italy. For example, it’s a very important thing for me that they encourage the environmental sustainability in the campus with a green service. This period made me better understand the domain through theoretical information about things like politic, sociology, legislation.

I studied very hard, but not especially because I think it was very difficult, but I have set myself very high standards. Because I had only oral exams and it are focused on performance. Fun fact:  I was worried I couldn’t answer all the questions… and remain silent.

• What can you say about the master program you chose?

With the premise that Italian university have a good system of contact with company, my bachelor university did not have the contacts I aspired to. That is one reason for why I chose IULM University. It is a private one, in Milan.

Here we do more projects. We have some conference with people from different companies who talk about a many argument and give us interesting tips on work market. One project that I would like to share with you is the Barilla business challenge in which we participated. The goal was to think and design a new product for generation Z. We pitched our proposal at the headquarter in Parma in front of Marketing manager who put us in second place in the competition. Very great experience!

• Did you find any differences between the private university and the public one?

The first thing is the quality of the relationship with the companies, as I mentioned before. Secondly, I prefer a classical and direct contact with teachers, and especially during my master’s years the teachers were more entrepreneurs then teachers. Last but not least, the projects work: the private one organizes very good and realistic project collaborating with famous brands.

• How did you realize what career do you what to develop?

When I was in middle school, I used to see “The Hills”, an American TV series, where the main character was working for the Vogue magazine in the marketing area. I liked her lifestyle very much and she really inspired me. Later I realized that the life is a little bit different from the movies, but I still love working in this area. Now I am very close to sustainably and social themes, so I think I want to get a deeper knowledge.

• Lastly, we would like to know what do you like the most about Romania until now?

First, I want to say that Romania is an incredible find! I think today the Country is not valued enough abroad. Bucharest is a beautiful city, I love that there are so many parks, the network of public transport works well and I’m discovering new tasty recipes too. I hope to see more things but for now I’m happy.

We really hope that Giovanna will see all the beautiful parts of Romania and she will meet wonderful people who will make her remember with joy her staying in our country.