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.

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.

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.