This article is the second in a series of two highlighting international internship opportunities at the University of Iowa. Read the first in the series here.

Sam Longo is a University of Iowa student majoring in marketing management and anticipated to graduate in May 2023. She is currently completing a global internship abroad as a production management intern with the company, Social Reporters, located in Milan, Italy.

Tell us a bit about yourself and why you chose to do an international internship?
My name is Sam Longo, and I’m from a suburb in Illinois, about an hour away from Chicago. This fall, I’ll be a senior with a marketing management major and a certificate in event management here at the University of Iowa. I’m very passionate about traveling, seeing new parts of the world, and having the chance to try new things, which was a big reason I wanted to intern abroad! I chose to do an international internship because I thought it was the best of both worlds; in the sense that I’m gaining hands-on experience, but I’m also gaining exposure to new cultures and social settings that I’m not familiar with while getting to travel parts of Europe!

What is your role at your internship and what are you responsible for?
I'm a production management intern at Social Reporters, so I usually work on a few projects at once with different responsibilities! However, my favorite part of my internship is that no two days are ever the same, which makes me excited to go to work every day.

All my projects rely on collaboration with product managers and our company's clients. Some of my responsibilities include creating all the content such as graphics, infographics, and video teasers for The World Congress of Dermatology, along with the weekly editorial plan, and making sure the client approves it. When I'm not working on the congress project, I assist in commercial and tv show productions!
 

How is the internship program connected to your academic program?
My internship is through the program "IES," which partners with universities across the country to provide internships abroad, and the University of Iowa is one of them! IES intertwines my academics and internship well in the way it's organized. When selecting where I wanted to intern, I filtered through which programs accommodate my major, and Milan was one of them. I'm also continuing my academic studies here, which fulfills the Tippie Rise requirement as I'm taking a course called "Leading Across Cultures: Internship Seminar."

How has the internship experience abroad differed from what you've experienced and/or heard about internship programs in the United States?
Many people talk about the culture shock you'll experience when going abroad, but no one mentioned the culture shock I experienced in the workplace. My job and internship experiences in the U.S. have been very task-oriented, where people focus heavily on the tasks that need to be done to meet a deadline. However, it was a complete 180 when I began my internship here in Milan, Italy. It was much more relationship-oriented, where everyone in my company is all friends outside of the workplace and takes the time out of their days to talk to each other about their personal lives. During the lunch break, everyone at the company goes out to lunch together, and you take the whole hour, contrasting my previous experiences where I either get something quick to eat and get back to work or eat while working. Punctuality is also not viewed the same here as in the United States; waiting for a client to show up is not uncommon. It's a much more relaxed view of time. On the topic of time, the work structure is also very different. Here, it's more common to start work between 9:30-10:30 a.m. and work until 6-6:30 p.m., rather than starting and ending earlier in the U.S.

The structure of the hierarchy is what I find most fascinating. From my previous experiences and most companies in the U.S., higher-ups such as CEOs or CFOs usually have their own offices. An intern might work in a cubicle and never directly reports to a CFO or would not be the first person you'd ask if you had a question. Here in Italy, having that sense of divide is uncommon. As an intern, I work at the same table as my boss and the CEO, they don't have their own offices, and I'm expected to communicate with the CEO first when I have a concern or question.

Overall, I would say the structure between what I've experienced, what I know to be expected in the United States, and what I've experienced firsthand in Italy is quite different. The best way to differentiate them is their leadership styles as the U.S. falls more towards task-oriented and Italy leans toward a relationship-oriented approach. They're just two very different styles and take time to adjust to!

What unique opportunities have you been afforded because of your internship abroad?

My internship abroad has brought me so many unique opportunities that I don't know I would have ever had the chance to work on if I wouldn't have taken this internship in Milan. I've built an international network which has been a great opportunity because my connections have become much more diversified by working in another country. I've had the privilege of becoming very close with a lot of my coworkers and working side by side with them where I've learned more than I ever thought I could in such a short three months. I'm currently working on the production and graphic designs for The World Congress of Dermatology and have had the chance to be in meetings with the president of the Congress, and I've been invited to attend the Congress in Singapore in 2023, an opportunity I would have never had without this internship abroad.

I've also had the chance to take the creative lead on several projects. Besides the leadership opportunities, I've been immersed in many kinds of projects since being here, such as filming a commercial for UnipolSai Assicurazioni, working on the editorial plan for the World Congress of Dermatology, and planning our company's summer party at Milan's "Sforza's Castle." I have also assisted with the live production for a TV show, and worked on the launch of an upcoming empowerment campaign for women in STEM. All these opportunities have been so unique in their own ways and working on one of them would have been a fantastic opportunity. However, having the chance to work on so many different projects with talented people has been such a blessing.

How has your internship strengthened your intercultural communication skills?
While my internship was in person, many of the clients we worked with or even co-workers lived in different parts of Italy or Asia, so my communication skills have improved drastically.

Working virtually with people from many different cultures strengthened my cultural awareness, and I gained more exposure to people from diverse backgrounds with life experiences that I'm unfamiliar with. It took a lot of adapting; for example, even though it was over Microsoft Teams for the first 20 minutes of each meeting, everyone would talk about their personal lives, which created more of a family-like atmosphere before we discussed any work-related topics. When I would present, I would never get feedback unless it was something that needed to be changed; in other words, no feedback is good feedback.
 

What's been your favorite experience abroad?
My favorite experience abroad has been my trip to the Amalfi coast! I had the chance to take a rowboat into the blue grotto, a cave that makes the water glow bright blue due to the sunlight, and then I had the opportunity to take a chairlift to the top of Capri that overlooked the whole island - which was genuinely surreal! The trip ended by riding a birdie scooter around the town and exploring the colorful shops and beautiful streets.
 

What’s next for you? Is it connected to your internship or your time abroad?
Next for me is to continue my internship with Social Reporters! After this program ends, I plan to spend two weeks traveling in Greece and return to Iowa, where I’ll intern with Social Reporters virtually for my senior year. Then, after graduation, I will be in Singapore in July to attend the World Congress of Dermatology, producing video content for Social Reporters!

What's something you've learned about yourself because of this program abroad?
Something I've learned about myself while being in a new environment on my own is I can handle a lot more than I thought I ever thought I could. I learned to love what I didn't always understand. From learning to budget all my expenses to figuring out how to communicate with strangers who don't speak English when I need help, learning to take the metro, or even finding a prescription labeled in Italian. I began to understand I was a lot more capable of doing all these things that seemed overwhelming before I got here.

The biggest thing I've learned about myself is I'm curious to learn about other cultures and people from different walks of life, and if I never ask, I'll never know the answer. People love to share their experiences or are more than willing to help anyone in need, so getting out of my comfort zone really allowed me to become more immersed in a new culture during my time abroad.

Any pieces of advice for future students considering/planning to do an internship abroad?
My biggest piece of advice is if you're willing to go into it with an open mind and embrace change, it will be an experience of a lifetime. Before I left, I was really anxious because the unknown was scary, and it was hard to prepare for the unexpected, but it was just my nerves. Once you're here, you realize how much more prepared you were than you thought and how willing people are to help you.

The way I see it, there will never be another time in your life when you can do an internship abroad while getting credit for college; so, if you're considering it, this is your sign to do it. I promise you; it's a decision you won't regret! As my time here ends, I'm so sad I have to leave. However, I can't imagine ever passing up this opportunity. As cheesy as it sounds, I always heard people talk about how going abroad changed their life but never understood until I had the chance to experience it. I can confidently say it has been life-changing in the best way possible and genuinely is something I'll never forget!