Welcome back to the third appointment of our international MBA journey!
The interest in sharing impressions of MIP experiences is continually increasing along with the #growingleader community, so this time I’ve decided to let one of our most international candidates tell us something about the diversity that the Part Time program offers. His name is Ben Rossi and below are his thoughts:
10 years. 10 houses. 3 states. 3 residencies. 23 countries travelled. 250,000+ miles.
Life has been quite an adventure since leaving home for university, but for me – life is just getting started. I’ve been very fortunate to experience so many great things in such a short period of time – and I hope to continue to experience many, many more.
Allow me to reintroduce myself: my name is Ben Rossi and, despite my deceptive surname, I am from West Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Although, like I mentioned, I haven’t really been home much (not to my mother’s liking but she didn’t seem too upset when she came to visit Europe last year!) I am currently living in Birmingham, UK, where I am an astronaut – well, not really – but I do support an aerospace company in reducing costs in order to make flights cheaper for the common man!
Although I am primarily based in the UK, I also support manufacturing sites in France and Italy – which brings me to one of the answers to the question you’ve probably been asking yourself “Why and how did you end up at MIP!?!”
Ask the majority of our MBA class of 45 professionals what nationality they are and just like their driving, their answer will be fast – Italiano! Ask any American what nationality they are and… take a seat, get out a piece of paper and prepare to write down close to 45 different irrelevant %’s of countries from every corner of the earth.
Yes, yes, I know – this can be rather annoying but it’s kind of funny, and somewhat true, and certainly drives curiosity. The curiosity to take advantage of everything this world has to offer us with the vast diversity that stretches across the globe.
Milano is no exception to this sphere of diversity. The most diverse city in Italy is also considered among the most diverse cities in the world. It is not surprising then that 25% of our International MBA classmates are originally from outside Italy. Although there is still a significant portion of the class hailing from Italy – there are several regions and cities represented – and you don’t even have to begin to question whether the regions of Italy differ from one another, some might consider themselves their own country! Watch out Catalonia!
So why MIP? Why not!? I’ve had a fairly unique career path so far – I wasn’t ready to change course and settle for normality. The reputation of innovation and technology at Politecnico di Milano and MIP definitely played its part. The biggest reason was the multicultural aspect that the city of Milano and the professionals within the MIP programs bring to the table.
Since starting our journey in October, we have had the pleasure of working together and getting to know each other, which has been a truly wonderful experience thus far. I look forward to continuing down the fortuitous path ahead of us as we continue to develop and expand our skillsets and minds together.
For me it’s plain and simple, the more adversity and diversity an experience presents, the more opportunity and value will result from it.
As you can read through Ben’s words, MIP energy is continuously burning, so please continue to follow us and never blow out the flame!
Ben Rossi. Ben Rossi is a candidate in the 2017-2019 International Part Time MBA program. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, he has spent the last 2 years living in the UK and working around Europe for the world’s largest provider of aerospace systems. When he’s not working, studying, or travelling, he’s likely eating his way around the world with the hopes of being the first person to eat a taco on the moon.
Salvatore Interdonato. Salvatore is one of the students of the 2017 edition of International Part Time MBA. Born in Italy and currently living and working in Romania as management controller for a manufacturing company dealing with the injection molding of plastic material. Answering to the question “what’s your purpose in this world?” he will answer “I’m here to solve problems with more efficiency and productivity. Problem solving gives me energy and satisfaction as well as the proof that we can always face new challenges within our companies offering new valuable solutions”.
