International Social Work: An Italian Perspective : Reviews (Milan)

The entire experience was incredible. I appreciated the lessons provided by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, the agency visits, the site tours, the variety of places traveled, and the rich experience of navigating in a different country rich in history and culture.

My favorite part of this program was getting to see how social work functions in Italy and comparing it to the United States. It was very eye opening and gave me a lot of new perspective on culturally diverse clients I may work with in the future. I enjoyed getting to meet fellow social workers that attended the program and getting to hear what experience they have, and what they want to do in the future. It was great to have the opportunity to expand my social work bubble and experience so many new things.

I loved getting to attend a university there and meet both professors and students in the social work sector. It was also in such a beautiful area, and we had so many opportunities to explore and see whatever most interested us.

I enjoyed meeting with PHD students to hear about their work and school experiences. I loved going to the different agencies to see the social work in action. The bonding with the classmates and professors was amazing. Getting to see the sites and enjoy the food of Italy will be something I will not forget.

The most rewarding part of this program is the lifelong friendships I made with other students on this trip. Over two weeks, many of us bonded and intend to stay connected for personal and professional purposes. It was truly valuable to have others who also experience the culture shock, or the feeling of embarrassment when you are not following cultural norms, and find a new life perspective.
I also appreciated the quick tutorial of navigating the public transportation system and the autonomy to venture out and explore the different cities.

The most rewarding part of the program was getting to visit with social work agencies in Italy. The smaller agencies that we visited were very personal and welcoming, and I learned a lot about their practices and community-based culture.

I found it rewarding to interact with other social work students from Italy and share all of our knowledge with each other. I think that getting to speak directly with people in a similar experience as I am is one way to find commonalities and differences. There was so much to be said, it felt that all of us needed more and more time to talk through everything we wanted to cover.

Visiting the women's resource space for women who have migrated to Milan was the most rewarding part of the trip. We got to meet some amazing women who have gone through so much but continue to push themselves to create a better life for themselves, their families, and their community. The women were so welcoming and excited to talk with us. We were able to learn a lot from them.

This program requires a lot of walking, as Italy is not as vehicle orientated as the US. Please be sure to be in good health and have the ability to walk long distances.

Remember your why. Why are you there, why are you wanting this experience, and why are you doing it? If you remember your why and focus on your experience and what you can learn, anything negative that might occur will seem like nothing compared to the experience you can and will have.

Prepare yourself for a completely different daily life than the United States. How you conduct yourself in public spaces makes you need to be more observant than we are in the U.S.

I feel like you can better understand your own system of things by seeing the differences in others' systems. It was interesting to discuss and point out the similarities and differences between Italian and American social work, and to put my own knowledge of social work in America to the test.

I learned to be flexible, stay open-minded, and make the most of every experience, even when things do not go as planned. Future students should expect busy days, budget carefully, and take time to connect with the group and fully experience the culture.

The social work process in Italy has differences but some of the same struggles. It was nice to hear from others to see how we can support our clients back in the United States. Make sure you walk to prepare for the trip, know that you will pay for at least 2 meals a day, plus any drinks (water, soda, Powerade) this can add up in your budget. Also there might be a museum or tour you want to do in your free time so safe the money. Leave time in your day at some point to make sure you are staying ontop of your assignments. The 2 weeks goes by so fast!