International Mobility: testimonies of some students (CdL in Law)

Young, alive, multicultural, sparkling, free. These are the adjectives that come to mind when I think of Brussels. Can you imagine the good fortune of being in close contact with most European cultures for about six months? This is the strength of the Erasmus program, which is unexpectedly intensified if the destination is Brussels: the heart of Europe.

Heart of Europe because of the presence of the European institutions and because of its geographic centrality: just a few hours separate it from Paris, fewer still from Amsterdam, and, for the more enterprising, just one train and you are in London. And if you stay in the city? You discover it. A vibrant international soul where the most diverse cultures confront each other daily.

But is Erasmus really a waste of time? Definitely not. It becomes one if you want to make it one, like anything else in life. If you are truly motivated, therefore, have no fear: you will take the exams as diligently as you would anywhere.

In Brussels, proficiency in English is important, as it makes class participation fluid and is the basis for interaction with anyone. The stronger that base is, the fewer the difficulties will be and, why not, maybe you can even learn a new language. Brussels is French-speaking, but for the brave ones in the university we speak Flemish!

Everything is new: city, language, friends, university. The experience becomes all the more intense the greater the desire to get involved. From the pre-departure procedures to the first days exploring the city, everything is dynamic and engaging. After the first few weeks of adjustment with the normal difficulties, one begins to get used to this new, stimulating reality; and, surprisingly, even studying becomes intriguing. Recharged by the weekends spent visiting major European cities or the hundreds of acquaintances made, the hours of study, at home or in a café, are almost enjoyable.

The beauty of sharing then is something unique. Hundreds of young people from different countries, in a university environment where precisely the student is the focus, valued in every dimension.

And outside the university? Even the unexpected can lead to enrichment.

In my case, 18 wonderful roommates with whom to share their culture and a typically Flemish home: Norwegians, French, Spanish, Germans, Italians, Dutch, Syrians. Dinners, parties, laughter, lasting memories.

Some of them students, others already in the working world. All emphasizing the importance of such an experience and how much it is required in the working world.

Why? Because it teaches how to approach a subject that has been studied for years in a new way and how to deal with foreign orders. And, more profoundly, to overcome barriers to discover oneself similar, to use a language as a tool to break them down, to understand the different and accept it in its uniqueness, and, in this way, fully embrace one's own.

Adelaide Condemi

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life [...] Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become."

These words were spoken by Steve Jobs at Standford University in 2005 and I believe they encapsulate the very essence of the Erasmus + program. At the beginning of the 2021/2022 academic year, I made the decision to spend a few months of my life abroad, an experience I had always dreamed of and, fortunately, was able to achieve. Fascinated by the climate, not only meteorological, but also, and especially, socio-cultural climate of the northern European countries, I had the opportunity to attend the prestigious University of Utrecht in the Netherlands for five months. The small university town immediately proved to be extremely welcoming, particularly dynamic, full of opportunities and experienced by many young boys and girls as fascinated by this new experience as I was.

During my stay in Utrecht at the Faculty of Law, I took three exams in English (Introduction to Criminology for law students, Introduction to Dutch law, Comparative constitutional law), which helped to greatly improve my language skills and to experience new and different ways of learning than I was used to. Utrecht University espouses a very dynamic and interactive teaching method, which mainly encourages student interventions, very often divided into small groups, for shared discussion related to the topics on the agenda: from the role of the media in spreading news to the world at large, to the history and culture of the Netherlands, to the comparison of the constitutional profiles of European states and beyond.

The opportunity to take courses in English, to take the respective exams, and to converse with students from all over the world (by way of example, several were German, American, English, Spanish, French, Australian, Chinese, South African, etc..), as well as the good fortune of living abroad, have fostered not only a remarkable growth in my language skills, but also an open-mindedness to realities different from the ones that are everyday for me, appreciating very often their differences, and getting to know other people, a great added value of the Erasmus + experience. In fact, even extra-university life is particularly lively and there are so many opportunities to share one's experience together with other students as well.

Finally, Utrecht is strategically located in the center of the Netherlands and all the other cities in the nation and beyond are easily accessible: thus, I had the opportunity to visit Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, the island of Marken and even Copenhagen and Malmö.

In the final analysis, I recommend to all those who have the desire to study a foreign language, or to improve their knowledge, and the will to "get involved" to travel, study and take advantage of the exciting opportunities of the Erasmus + program, made available by our University of Parma.

"Maybe the secret is not to keep dreams in the drawer. You have to use them. You have to dare them" - Renzo Piano.

Francesco Maria Moglia

How did it all begin? It is still vivid the memory of a few years ago, as many as three from memory, when, during a lecture on Institutions of Roman Law, we were put in touch with two girls who were in Brazil at the time; they were talking to us from a dark little room, telling us about the program they were taking part in: an Overworld that allows the attainment of a double degree (Double Degree), aimed at students enrolled in the Law Course. The possibility of attending the third year of the course at PUCRS University, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, is offered.

An interesting proposal, but, sure, there was a problem: three years ago we were two young girls entering university studies, freshly shelled out of the much comfortable high school reality. The qualms are as obvious as they are natural. Alone? So young! And not just anywhere--on the other side of the world! In Latin America! And the language... probably not many of the people enrolled in our course know Portuguese, and we certainly were not among them.

But the enthusiasm (or unawareness, perhaps) was too much. University opens a new world, unexpected stimuli, and we were ready to breathe this air of novelty. We didn't even think too much: we'll never be selected, we told ourselves, it's worth a try! A double degree... surely an unmissable opportunity, but there will be too many people knocking on that door.

And instead, from this bet began the most important journey and the greatest achievement we can say we have reached so far.

Having passed the selection, gone through the tangled thicket of bureaucracy, between Application Form, Language Placement Test, Learning Agreement, Visas etc..., finally at the end of July 2019 we took off.

On landing at the Porto Alegre airport, to welcome us we found our university "Amigo", a colleague chosen from among students who volunteer to help interchange students, such as receiving them at the airport and accompanying them to the facilities where they will be staying, to do their first shopping, to the Policìa Federal to register their entry and address of residence etc...

A first glimpse of the enviable organization of PUCRS, and the warm welcome we would always receive, as well as an invaluable help for those who find themselves unleashing ten clerks even just to buy a hair straightener, without even knowing why (yes, that happened too...).

But the greatest relief was the smiling, understanding faces that greeted us at the student residence; the fear, the anguish disappeared in a moment. We still did not understand each other, but those exchanges said much more than long speeches would have allowed: as different as we were, as much as we came from the farthest corners of the globe, there was something that united us. Colombians, Mexicans, Swedes, Germans, French, a small world was gathered in those halls. Different ideas, alternative mindsets, but, in the end, we all had the same fears and needs. Perhaps, the bonds with the other foreign students are among the strongest and deepest ones we established, after all, 'we were in the same boat'.

From here, a few days and we all started leaving the student residence together to go to the University, and so for the rest of the days to come: small groups of interchange students heading every morning to class.

The PUCRS is fantastic, a real campus. Inside, in addition to the ultra-modern facilities where classes are held, divided by departments, and the largest library in the State of Rio Grande Do Sul, there are bars, restaurants, cafeterias, green areas, gadget stores, meditation rooms, gyms, and alternative facilities. It is immense, all to be explored...

Lectures, in general, are compulsory attendance and are very often practical in nature. Curricular internships are also included in the program, which consist of lectures given by Professors of the University, as well as Lawyers, during which they learn how to correctly set up and draft legal documents, almost as if it were a legal writing course. Students are always invited to participate actively, but without forcing. Every useful contribution is considered a shared learning opportunity; the rest is not worth the waste of time of hasty judgment. At all times we felt supported and sustained, professors and colleagues (comrades it would come to say) were by our side with every success, and rejoiced as if it were their own. The opportunity for cultural exchange was perceived and valued by all: we were never strangers to them, but friends who had just returned from a long journey, to whom they felt like asking what they had seen, whether it was worth adapting that diversity to their reality.

The year consisted of two semesters, divided by a break/holiday period of about three months (between December and March), during which we took the opportunity to travel to discover Brazil and learn about, among other things, the Brazilian Carnival, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Florianopolis, Espírito Santo, Salvador, Fortaleza, Jericoacoara...

Without wishing to exaggerate, perhaps Brazil is really one of the countries that provides the most stimulation, both professionally and culturally. Considering the important migratory phenomena of the past, to this day Brazil lives and breathes an atmosphere of multiculturalism, agricultural traditions, sports almost approach rituals, philosophies and religions from all over the world converge. Modernity mingles with the ancestral, sometimes it really seems that in the plots of reality lies magic.

This culture of confrontation, of aggregation, can only lead to openness to completely innovative solutions, in every sphere: just think of the practice of family constellations in the jurisdictional sphere. The same, sometimes important, differences between our jurisdictions have been sources of reflection of immeasurable value: we will never forget the Júri court session we attended.

To conclude our tale, we were forced, unfortunately, to end our second semester here, in Italy, due to the SARS-CoV-2 health emergency, returning earlier than expected, but managing to complete the year thanks to the online classes offered by PUCRS.

What good did it do? The hope surely is that at the end of the five-year course two degrees carry significant weight, and that the fact that one was earned abroad, in a developing country increasingly incident in global politics such as Brazil, gives important employment benefits. We can say, however, that even if it turns out to be a useless experience in this respect, we would equally repeat everything. It is an experience that challenges you in ways you never suspected, and brings out things in you that you never imagined. Nothing teaches you as much about yourself as such an adventure; you become yourself again, but in a new version. And it is with this new awareness that you feel like climbing mountains, knowing that the summit is there for you...

Elisabetta Gherri and Sevil Chetulyan

I returned in February from five months in Alicante, Spain.
Friends, relatives, university colleagues all reserved the same question for me: how was Erasmus? 
A question that I, punctually, could not answer. I was unable to give an answer not because I did not know it but because, whatever adjective or word I found to describe it, it was not adequate. Any words came across as reductive and failed to fully express the emotions I felt during those months.
I finally found a way to answer this question. My answer became, "you can't explain it, you can only live it."
This is a phrase that says everything and nothing, but in my opinion encapsulates what Erasmus is: a period of your life when you simply feel alive. Every morning I woke up and opening the window I could admire the sea of the Alicante coast, I took classes in one of the largest campuses in Europe, I discovered new places and landscapes every day.
All this could make you think that what made those months special was the place. Certainly Alicante and its mild temperatures positively influenced my daily mood. Alicante is a city of about 300,000 inhabitants on the coast of the Valencian community, an hour and a half away from Valencia and an hour from Murcia, nicknamed by the poet Bretòn in Valencian "la millor terreta del mon" for the quality of its soil, formerly used to clean kitchen utensils, thanks to its The major points of interest in the city are the famous castle of santa Barbara -built in 1200 on a small hill that rises in the middle of the city, from which you can admire the coast and the beautiful port- the various beaches and the old barrio, located in the city center.
What makes Erasmus special, however, is not the city you live in.
Erasmus is special in itself. Perfecting English and learning a new language, establishing friendships with kids exactly like me from all over the world, traveling, discovering, but also experiencing a university system different from my own. All of this made my mobility period abroad, the best semester I could have wished for.
Still now, thinking about those days, it makes me smile. I realize daily how those months broadened my cultural, professional and personal horizons and I still cannot find a negative side to this project.
To all those who would like to go but are held back by fears, I can say: it's normal, I too had the exact same hesitations. A new place, a new language, a new university, new people, new habits. All this can be frightening, but after an initial period of acclimatization, all this disappears, giving way to very strong emotions, destined to remain indelible in the memories and not only.
All this, encapsulated in a few words: the best choice I have made in five years of university.

Giovanni Sorrentino

Erasmus? So good that I did three of them!
Let's dispel the clichés. Erasmus is not a waste of time, but an added value.
When I first decided to leave, Erasmus represented a challenge for me: exams to be identified, choice of locations, passing selections, and bureaucracy to be dealt with. These were not easy choices, but the desire to enrich myself both personally and educationally spurred me on to pursue the choice to leave.
I was only 21 years old when I arrived in Cordoba and did not know the language well. All I knew was that I had booked a few nights in a hotel, just enough time to find my home and to go to the University for the completion of the bureaucratic requirements.
In no time at all, I was well settled in the beautiful city of Cordoba, where I found open, helpful and warm people. At the University I was welcomed by a knowledgeable staff that was well disposed to help me with the bureaucracy.
In the course of that year I realized how good Erasmus was doing me. It was as if everything I did, from studying to very normal daily chores, was influenced by a newfound positivity and incredible ease.
I found myself able to do things I would not have thought of. I discovered the beauty of other cultures, each in its own religion, its own traditions, its own arts.
I found so many other European Erasmus kids like me, who together with me found a common sense of belonging to the European people. In the diversity of each one there was the richness of the others.
From Poland to Portugal, from Norway to Malta, after 70 years of peace we were all together and shared university lecture halls, exams, parties and trips in a continuous mutual exchange. Who knows what our grandparents, who were waging war only 70 years ago, would have thought. 
But all these things I would have thought only upon my return to Italy.
In the meantime, I concentrated on classes, whose attendance was welcome, and on preparing for exams. Upon my return to Parma, I was fully recognized for six exams (International Law - Public and Private -, Comparative Public Law, Legal Informatics, European Union, and two optional subjects), with no integration required.
The lectures and exams consisted of a theoretical and a practical part. Labs and practical case solving took place in class, so attending was almost a must.
Of the other two experiences abroad, one took place outside Europe with the Overworld Program, at PUCRS University, Brazil, where I did part of the thesis research, for a period of 4 months. Since I had no exams to take, I did not attend any classes and did the research and writing work mainly in the University's very rich and well-stocked Library. I had been assigned a professor who coordinated and directed me in my research work. The time in Brazil was as short as it was intense, but still enough to learn to speak Portuguese well as well.
Finally, my last Erasmus took place on the island of Malta, where, with the Erasmus Traineeship program, I did a three-month internship. The opportunity was useful to finally make up for my deficiencies in English and represented the first job approach after graduation.
Each of these experiences was the subject of my subsequent job interviews and they were always well appreciated by my interviewees.
Now that years have passed, I am certain that I would leave again for each of these destinations. From each experience I came out with a richer personal, educational and professional background.
Once Erasmus, always Erasmus. 
Crizia Carbotti

A decisive study and life experience.

I attended Utrecht University in the 2017/2018 academic year. This choice was determined as much by the prestige of the university as by the broad and well-structured selection of English-language teachings offered by its law department.
At Utrecht I took six exams (Introduction to Dutch Law, Comparative Law Methodology, Comparative Constitutional Law, Legal Ethics, Foundations of EU Law, and Law & Identity), and I feel I can evaluate my time there as decidedly positive.

With regard to the academic aspect in the strict sense, Utrecht University lets itself be appreciated for its international vocation, the helpfulness and efficiency of the administrative organization, the functionality of the study environments, and the innovative teaching methods.
In good substance, the university activity involves students a great deal: courses often involve the writing of legal papers, individual and group presentations, simulated trials, and seminar-like lectures. This is an approach that I personally found yes challenging but extremely stimulating, and I consider it essential for overall university preparation.
In addition, the university proves to be a very active and pleasant environment to be in, with extensive and modern libraries and several opportunities to meet with international students from all over Europe and the world.

As far as "extra-university" life is concerned, however, Utrecht offered me an exciting stay: it is a dynamic, technologically advanced, young and lively city that is able to offer all kinds of opportunities for recreation and cultural enrichment. I would particularly point out the excellent bicycle infrastructure that is a boast of the Netherlands: in Utrecht one not only grows academically but also becomes an accomplished cyclist: at the end of Erasmus, buses and cars will remain but a distant and despised memory. Also to be kept in mind is its proximity to other major Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague).

In conclusion, I would highly recommend Utrecht as an Erasmus destination to anyone who intends to study abroad with the goal of learning a lot and getting involved, but without giving up leisure and personal and not just academic exploration. I believe that Utrecht fully meets both needs.

Massimo Capobianco

Paris and New York (Erasmus+ and Overworld)

I spent the first semester of my fourth year in Paris (Université Pantheon-Sorbonne) and the second semester of my fifth year in New York (Hofstra University). 
I am studying law and I often hear people say that "in Erasmus you waste time." I smile and think about the time I wasted.
First I think about all the exams I gave abroad, but immediately I laugh at myself for my superficiality. Of course I have given many exams, struggling sometimes less and sometimes much more than in Italy, but they are quite other results I have brought home.
I think about when I will have a degree from the University of Parma, but I will have studied in three different universities. I will have seen what the answers to the same legal questions are in as many as three different countries. I will have seen how much the way of finding answers changes in these countries. Surprise: our system is not always the best, but to realize this I had to get to know the others.
I think about how before I left I thought I knew something about French and American culture, whereas now that I am back I know that before I knew nothing at all and that you don't really know anything about a country until you live there. Until you talk to other students, to supermarket clerks, to bar owners, until you get off the train at the wrong station, until you find yourself having to ask for help.
I think about the fact that since I've been back I love Parma even more than before, because developing a critical eye for the society around us doesn't just make us see what needs to be improved, but also what we take for granted every day.
I think about how little time it takes to be an integral part of a new place and call it home. And how sometimes you feel more at home there than here, simply because getting out of a place after twenty years helps to understand who we are without the safety net we are used to, who we are outside the comfort zone, so who we really are.

The Sorbonne is among the most renowned and oldest universities in Europe. Having the opportunity to study in this prestigious environment not only makes a difference in your curriculum, but involves challenging yourself every day with an academic system that is completely different from ours.
Studying law in France means delving into your favorite subject in small classes (of 15 students), learning how to write, comment on, and critique jurisprudential decisions, and participating in lectures that are not just "face-to-face".
 

Jelena Segovic

 

Hofstra is a private American university located a half-hour train ride from Manhattan. Studying and living on a college campus is an experience that is almost impossible to experience in Italy. On campus everything revolves around the student. The libraries (there is something for everyone, from the little lounge with newspapers to read, to the secluded coffee table, to the panorama of the 10th floor) are open 24 hours a day every day. The swimming pool, gymnasium, theater, and movie theater are on campus, fully available to students, who are welcome to participate in any sport, course, or event that interests them. Databases provide access to any legal journal, and most books are available in e-book form, available at the click of a button. An office is dedicated to helping students write the perfect cv and find internships and jobs.

Jelena Segovic

"I left for Rovaniemi in the second year of my university journey without even imagining what was waiting for me. I arrived in early January 2016 in the world of Finnish Lapland, when the temperatures ranged from -30° to -40° and the days were always dark. The first few days were strange, mainly because I was not used to such an environment without sunlight for 24h. Nevertheless, I had no problems, it was just a new and mysterious world for me. It was an extreme experience in the positive sense of the word, and I think that if I had not chosen Rovaniemi as my Erasmus destination, I most likely would have missed the opportunity to see so many things that we in "Central Europe" are not used to.
Every evening, or even during the night, there was the rush to go out and watch the northern lights. To see an aurora borealis, and these lights dancing in the sky between green and purple as if they were dancing, is a unique and rare thrill that does not happen often, in fact, I would say almost never, in life. From the end of March onward, when the days began to lengthen, the landscape changed
completely: it looked like a new world. From mid-May to the end of June it is always daytime, and it was amazing to watch the midnight sun on the banks of the river that runs through the city of Rovaniemi.
The University, Lapin Yliopisto, is a fairly large and modern facility featuring Finnish art and architecture. In addition to the central library, there are many classrooms where students can study. The Finnish academic system is quite unique, different from ours. Exams are written, and the type of exam varies from a closed-book written exam to essays or journals. 
I had a great time with both the Professors (always very helpful) and the students, although Finns are quite cold and aloof people.
The organization was impeccable and I loved spending the days at the university studying, I felt like I was at home.
I highly recommend everyone to spend a period of study in Rovaniemi because it is not an experience that happens often in life.
In addition, in the third year of my undergraduate journey I won the Overworld scholarship to go to study at Hofstra Law School (Hempstead -New York-USA), and I had not realized until I landed at John. F. Kennedy.

Altea Di Stefano

Hofstra Law is a university located in the heart of Long Island, New York State, just a 40-minute train ride from Manhattan.
The American system is based on common law and students study case law. Every subject from Contracts to Torts, from Property to Constitutional Law, is based on case law cases and the principle of stare decisis.
Law school is a very important faculty in the States and there is a tough selection process to take the entrance test. Law school lasts three years and students get a lot of practice as early as the first year. It is a completely different academic system from ours which in my opinion is very efficient; it is much more practical than theoretical.
Students as early as the first year practice by doing Mock Trials, which would be mock trials between multiple universities within the United States.
Hofstra University is a very large campus within which there is not only the college but also the university, with a plurality of faculties. It also has all the facilities for students: from large libraries, to computer rooms, swimming pools, gyms, and cafeteria service of all kinds, to residence.
I lived on campus and got to know people, who to this day are friends, from all over the world, with different but at the same time interesting cultures and histories. It was an experience that enriched me in every way.
Studying according to their method was exhausting at first, but then if there is passion for what you study, and if you really love what you do, you can adapt to everything, and achieve commendable results. During my time at Hofstra, I also wrote part of my dissertation.
Today I have a second family in the Big Apple, and I have friends scattered around the world. I bring with me a rich background, for my career, and for my future."

Altea Di Stefano

"My Erasmus in Portugal? I would leave again in the morning, if only I could.

The University of Coimbra, among the oldest in the world, is undoubtedly one of Portugal's best university institutions. The Faculty of Law, specifically, counts among its faculty many of Lusitania's leading jurists and its premises are located in a beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site. During my experience (about ten months), I had no particular administrative difficulties. Erasmus students are very well taken care of by two offices (Casa da Lusofonia and the Gabinete das Relações Internacionais of the Faculty) and they can attend free Portuguese language courses (A1, A2, B1, B2) offered by the University. Also thanks to this opportunity, I was able to comfortably understand the lectures and take all the exams orally in Portuguese without major problems.

Finally, Coimbra is a real student-friendly university city. In addition to the university area, it is easy to find young people (also from all over Europe) studying in bars and cafes throughout the city without any problem (and at all hours!). In fact, the city's long academic tradition (which leads students to follow the praxe and dress in typical traje) means that all life in Coimbra revolves around the rhythms of the University, making every activity unique and stimulating.

It was a tremendous educational growth experience that also allowed me to create solid academic and personal bonds that last to this day."

Guglielmo Agolino

"My Overworld experience in Brazil was mainly related to a period of dissertation research. I found the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) extremely organized and ready to respond quickly to all the needs of a student who is not from Latin America. The doctor from the Faculty of Law at PUCRS who directed my research activities was of great availability and an essential point of reference. The supple library of the University has been equal to the needs of my research. Finally, there was everything I needed on the university campus to cope with my university days (cafeteria, copy shop, bookstore, ATM, pharmacy, etc.).

The scholarship helped me with much of the necessary expenses. I stayed in an undergraduate residence hall on the side of the university, where many international students also lived. This immersed my experience within a fantastic international atmosphere where I never felt alone even though I was far away from Italy."

Guglielmo Agolino

"On an ordinary day in early September last year, I found myself for the first time in an airport far from home, sunk amid kilograms and kilograms of suitcases and many fears. With my legs shaking and my head full of questions such as "will I be doing the right thing?", "will I struggle to adapt?", began my Erasmus, which, as I would come to realize not too long after, was the best decision I could have ever made.

Finding yourself catapulted into a country you had never seen before, in my case Belgium, surrounded by people who do not speak your language, submerged in entirely new responsibilities and habits is a feeling you do not easily forget.

When they say that Erasmus opens your mind and makes you realize that you belong to something bigger than your own city and university, that you are, in short, a citizen of the world, they sound like catch phrases but I assure you that it really is so. In a short time you learn to feel comfortable wherever you go, to think and make yourself understood in a foreign language, and also to approach the subject you have been studying for so many years in a completely new, more elastic, faster way.

Erasmus taught me to be independent, made me discover a new curiosity for the different, for what does not fit into our everyday life. I learned that regardless of nationality, language, culture, we all have the same desire to discover, to learn, to be able to move with ease wherever we go.

By stepping out of my comfort zone, and that is by leaving for Erasmus, I learned to call home not only my city, but a group of people, a room in a student residence, a university different from my own, and finally, Europe."

Stefania Aversa

"My experience in California, for the Overworld project, was one of the best I ever had during my undergraduate years. Thanks to this project, I had the opportunity to get a scholarship to spend time in California, in Sacramento, and research there on the legalization of marijuana, a topic that is as topical as it is compelling. Thanks to the excellent relationship between the University of Parma and the Mc George School of Law, we students received an excellent welcome from the host university staff and great help in carrying out the research. The university, particularly in the person of our mentor, Professor Michael Vitiello, put us in touch with many people involved in various capacities in the process of marijuana legalization in California (journalists, growers, even one of the lawyers who contributed most to the drafting of the text of the reform) and provided us with a series of meetings and reviews that proved to be very useful for the purposes of our research. Thanks to this, we were able to experiment with a type of study that had never been done in the Italian university: empirical and dynamic, with the opportunity to confront directly with insiders and to observe live the impact of the legalization phenomenon on the community. Professor Vitiello, moreover, proved to be an exquisite and extremely helpful person, involving us as much as possible in recreational activities as well, and allowing us to integrate best into the academic environment, with very informal ways and making us extremely comfortable. Finally, the Mc George School of law campus, in addition to having a wonderful facility, modern and surrounded by greenery, is teeming with students who come from all over the world. Among them I have made some friendships that I hope to cultivate for life."

Martina Scocca