The Pioneers Land in Milan
It's Europe's turn for the pioneers of the World Bachelor In Business (WBB), the innovative program created by Bocconi University, the University of Southern California (USC) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), who after the first year in Los Angeles and the second year in Hong Kong now find themselves at Bocconi. The students of this first class of the program will then decide which of the three universities to spend the fourth and final year, thus finishing this first undergrad program which allows participants to study in 3 continents and get 3 degrees.
The 38 students, who come from 13 different countries in North America, Europe and Asia, were welcomed on their first day in Bocconi at a meeting opened by the Rector Andrea Sironi. "We have been awaiting you for 2 years, we are happy to have you now amongst us and today you officially become part of the Bocconi community. Congratulations for what you have achieved so far but another challenging year awaits you. A year which apart from classes also means a series of cultural and sporting activities and events of which many organized by students themselves. We hope you will be active."
"After a first year year at the beautiful campus in LA and a sophomore year in thriving Hong Kong, you have now arrived in Bocconi and will learn about Italy and Europe's business context, lifestyle and culture," said Carlo Altomonte, Academic Director at Bocconi for the World Bachelor in Business. "Your presence will further enrich our international exposure, while we are sure you will learn a lot from our dedicated Faculty, brilliant students and range of extra-curricular activities."
"Studying with all these different people has opened new horizons to me and reaised my expectations about what I can achieve," says Paulina Quinn, German. "Now this year I want to understand more about the European economy and better get to know Italian culture."
"I'm really looking forward to this year. It will be an important year – because of internships too," says Joseph Samucha, from Hong Kong. "For all of us, these two years have been interesting and challenging, having to adapt to two different environments, and we have learnt a lot also outside of the classroom."
"Meeting people from such different backgrounds and creating an international network of friends is a unique aspect of this program," says Benjamin Rubin, from the US. "This year it will be great to learn the language and get to know Italy and Europe. But Bococni is a strong university so it will also be academically challenging."
In these first weeks WBB students can participate in all the welcome activities offered by Bococni through Welcome Days, as well as activities designed specifically for them such as an orientation meeting on Bocconi and Milan, crash courses in Italian and a course in financial math.