Back to School

After years of working, getting back into the school routine isn't easy.  Alma gives us an "Icebreaking Week" to help us ease into classes, which includes fun events and a really awesome welcome dinner.  I would recommend getting to Bologna at least before the icebreaking week and definately for the Italian classes if you don't know the language.  Getting there early gave me the opportunity to get my bearings around the city, and meet some of my classmates before the real classes began.
Our first class was a super intense accounting course that lasted for 2 weeks.  4 hours of class a day and then a group assignment that usually took the rest of the night.  I was in a group of 4 with 2 guys from Italy in the banking program and another girl from my luxury goods program.   After the 2 weeks of class we had another week before the final.  It was no joke.  Most of the classes are more spread out, but an intense first 2 weeks really gets you in work mode for the rest of the semester.
Whether you like it or not, group work is a major part of the curriculum at Alma.  Almost every class requires you to work in teams, usually between 3-5 people, sometimes put together randomly and other times chosen by the students.  Personally I like the group work because it forces you to work with people from different cultures, which helps you build relationships and really prepares you for your future career.  This year we have students from America, Canada, Russia, Italy, Turkey, Romania,   Kahzastan, India, and more.  In our design program we only have 13 students, but in the first semester we share classes with the MBA banking program.  These classes are hard but you learn alot.  Most importantly, you create lifetime friendships.  I will be really sad once this is over! 

Here is a pic of the girls of Alma in one of our classrooms -