Bob Murphy ’09 took advantage of the opportunity to study abroad through RPI’s exchange program. He spent this past fall semester in Milan, Italy, studying at Bocconi University. As someone who has never left the Eastern Time Zone before, Murphy said that the best part about studying abroad was “meeting the world.”
Murphy opted to study abroad through RPI’s exchange program because he thought it would make the overall education process easier. Though RPI helped answer his questions and organize some of his documents, he found that RPI did not do as much for him as some other universities did for their students studying abroad.
While at Bocconi University, Murphy took classes in financial markets, international marketing, and business strategy. His class in business strategy was the only class to count toward his management major here at RPI. While he found that he was somewhat limited in his course selection because of what RPI would accept as valid substitution courses, he enjoyed the opportunity to see how other cultures approach learning and evaluation.
Though Murphy had no previous experience with the Italian language, he made substantial progress in just four months. In addition to taking a language class offered by Bocconi University, he met a tandem language partner. She helped Murphy with his Italian while he helped her learn English. Though he is “far from fluent,” he says that he “can now read and write [Italian] fairly well.”
As for housing, Murphy lived in a dorm with mostly English-speaking students who hailed from outside of Italy. He was able to discover a lot about how people from different parts of the world feel about the United States. He also learned to take a more objective look at our own country. He would advise students studying abroad to “avoid political discussions unless you are familiar with the people you’re discussing with. In my experience, for the most part Europeans were fonder of American citizens than the American government and its policies.”
Murphy grew up in Mechanicville, New York, a town that consists of predominantly third and fourth generation Italian immigrants. Aside from experiences with his neighbors and watching The Godfather, Murphy did not know exactly what to expect of the Italian culture. He found it fascinating, however, “to connect the dots between the habits and language of my neighbors at home to the counterparts of their native land.”
One of Murphy’s favorite experiences with Italian culture was at mealtime. He ate a lot of pasta. “The food wasn’t difficult to get used to, as you could imagine,” Murphy said. As for the wine in Italy, Murphy says not to worry about spending too much money. “The cheap stuff is just as good!”
On the weekends, Murphy traveled. In addition to traveling extensively throughout Italy, he also traveled to nine other European countries. He found that traveling around Europe could be very inexpensive. “I made a round-trip flight to Ireland from Italy, a two-hour flight, for about $40,” he said. “I feel like I did a lifetime of travel in four months.”
Murphy may indeed enjoy a lifetime of travel, since he would like to find a job that allows him to travel internationally. He said that studying abroad has reaffirmed this desire. “It has also enlightened me on some of the critical cultural differences that must be accounted for in an international business decision.”
Murphy’s advice for anyone studying abroad in Europe would be to explore as much of the continent as possible, since there are many rich cultures to explore. He also recommends applying for a passport and visa as soon as possible, as waiting until the last minute can make travel plans stressful.
