Voices from Abroad: Laura Donati

Brussels (Belgium), International Organizations: Italian Representation to the EU
New York, NY (USA), International Internship: Luciano Moresco & Co.

My personality has always pushed me to discover new places, trying to get the best from every experience and taking the courage out in each situation.

Permanent Italian Representation to the EU

In fact, my first internship abroad was taken by chance, while I was visiting a friend of mine in Brussels. During a dinner I met the Italian transport attaché at the European Council; while talking about tasks and duties of the Italian mission regarding the transport sector and my Bachelor's final paper, he tried to get to know my understanding and opinion about the most topical issues concerning Italy and the EU. Even though my knowledge was not remotely comparable to that of my interlocutor, he was deeply impressed by my curiosity and determination and one week after he offered me a job at Italian Representation.

My focus was the preparation of Ministerial Council, collaborating in the groups that discuss issues of transportation and assisting with the coordination of the Italian technical government participating in the work community.

I experienced how important the position I was covering was, not only for my career, but because I was representing my country, giving a tangible contribution to my team and providing my point of view on several issues and dossiers.

In addition, the Italian attaché was alone covering all the transportation topics. Can you imagine that only one representative from Italy had to deal with all transport issues, from rail, to air and ground? Every day there were more than five working groups discussing every article on the European Commission's proposals and I often had to represent Italy without any consultant expert on these subjects.

Thanks to this experience, I am aware of how the public sector works in Italy and Europe, how important it is to have to stay at work until your job is done, how I can become an asset rather than a commodity.

I remember like yesterday my first real conversation about my future with my boss, when he asked: "What is your next step, Laura? Would you like to stay here?" I answered: "I don't know yet," but for the first time I started thinking about it.

My last month in Brussels was focused on finding some opportunities in the EU and when a big public company offered me to study there for my Master thesis, I realized that it was not my dream, even if I was proud of being considered ready to work there.

Laura in Central Park

But the best is yet to come. After my graduation, I applied for my second internship abroad, here in New York. Two days before graduation, Luciano Moresco & Co., a company that imports and distributes Italian high end men's fashion in the US, offered me a job. During the interview, the last intern asked me why she should consider my CV for that position and I answered "Why not!" I knew that my background and my previous job were not fitting with the fashion market, but I was sure that my personality could drive me everywhere I wanted to go.

After a few days, I was living in this overwhelming city, working with passion and curiosity, trying to get the best from every moment.

I realized I was falling in love with my job when I was preparing for and attending trade shows; in fact, I found my real passion through the owners of the companies that I was representing. Working with them gave me the opportunity to feel satisfaction and motivation at the same time: satisfaction because their product is well appreciated on the market and motivation because there are always challenges to take on and sometimes they seems really hard to achieve.

Another time I was embodying something special, another time I was taking my country with me, not only through its wonderful products, but through its genuine and passionate people.

And when I was discovering something special and unique, at a certain time I found myself in front of a turning point: "Should I stay or should I go?" and I opted for the first one, because the second option was living this opportunity only as a temporary experience. Choosing to stay meant to me trying with all my effort to extend my internship for 3 more months and without any awareness I received a job proposal, working hard and trying to add value to my company. I decided to pursue it starting working in a pizzeria 4 times a week during the night and in a cafeteria during the weekend.

I earned the money to pay for my job visa and be a part of this world for a longer period.

Nobody has taught me that was easy, even if I was living in most beautiful and exciting city of the world.

I was always repeating to myself that if something were easy, probably it would not take me so far.

In conclusion, I know you are reading this story because you are interested in applying to an internship abroad and my advice is to go for it with a the spirit that you can create your own future: don't be a visitor, but a student of life; don't be an intern, but a real entrepreneur; don't work for money or to enrich your CV, but work on yourself.

I do believe that is important to remember that our University is a bridge to reach our goal and everything else depends only on us, so... Good Luck!