A Quick Hack for Extending Your Europe Time
My parents wanted to come out and see Italy before I started school, but we had the limitation of me only being able to stay a total of 90 days in the Schengen Area. Because CIMBA is a 12-week program, I had roughly one week of visa-free leeway left, and I didn't want to cut it too close in case of flight delays heading home. To solve this, we started our trip in London. Because the UK is not part of the Schengen zone, none of that time counted against my 90-day clock! London was incredible, and we even took a day trip out to Canterbury and the White Cliffs of Dover. Afterward, we flew into Milan and explored Lake Como, Verona, and Venice before move-in. If you want extra travel time before or after CIMBA without burning your Schengen days, the UK is the ultimate travel hack.
Navigating Your First Week
The first week on campus can be a lot. Dealing with being jet-lagged, meeting all new people, and busy schedules definitely can feel overwhelming, but it is also such an exciting time. The first day, we got to campus and had orientations and campus tours before having dinner. After dinner, we got to go on an optional mall trip and get anything we needed. The next day, classes started, and we had a few more orientations. Then the rest of the week was spent on the Genesis program, which is a unique program that CIMBA offers. We also got to have a welcome dinner on Friday which I found was a great way to get to better know other students and even professors.
The Genesis Leadership Program
On Wednesday, the whole cohort started CIMBA’s Genesis Program. Going into it, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect beyond "team-building exercises," but I quickly learned it was much more than that. Genesis involves a lot of situations that can feel uncomfortable at first, but end up helping you grow and establish new relationships with your cohort. Having the opportunity to go through these challenges in the first week with people you met just 48 hours ago instantly creates a tight-knit campus community. We were able to set goals for what we wanted to get out of this semester and have meaningful conversations with other students.
Planning Our First Weekend Trip
On Tuesday after our travel orientation, a group of us sat at a picnic table outside with a mission to plan a trip for the upcoming weekend. We all had plenty of places we wanted to visit, but agreed that staying within Italy would be good for the first weekend trip. After deliberating between a few options, we eventually decided to go to Lake Garda. There were a few different groups going to different places, but the majority of us (24 people!) decided to do the Lake Garda trip. As you can imagine, planning a trip for that many people only a few days before is definitely overwhelming, but we were able to find somewhere to stay that fit all of us across 4 different small houses at the same place and were able to get a really great deal. We discussed options for transportation with some of the faculty here at CIMBA and were able to get an organized bus since we had such a big group of students that went directly from campus to Sirmione (where our accommodation was) by all splitting the cost. We left Saturday morning and came back Sunday night, with almost two full days in Lake Garda. The group split up into smaller groups during the day, with some people renting a boat, some going to the beach, and some walking around the town. The weather was very nice, and the lake was beautiful. It was the perfect destination for the first weekend.
Finding Our Rhythm in Paderno
Now that we are onto week two, our schedule is a little more consistent with classes, and we are starting to have more of a routine here in Paderno. Now we are working on planning more weekend trips, and I am incredibly excited for what's ahead. Ciao for now!