Written by Marissa Provenzale for ILF
My name is Marissa Provenzale and I am an undergraduate student at Marquette University in the Diederich College of Communication. My senior year of high school, I participated in an internship with Redoro Frantoi Veneti, an olive oil company in northern Italy. During my time in high school, I was able to apply the principles I was learning in my dual credit Entrepreneurship class, such as the importance of creating a lean Business Model Canvas and how to identify customer segments to my group’s project: exploring the possibility of opening a bruschetteria in our community. Additionally, utilizing the language for presentations in the United States and abroad helped me improve my language proficiency for the AP Italian and Culture test. In college, I have used what I learned about teamwork during the creation of the business plan, interior design concept, and menu. Specifically, the importance of interdependence was the biggest skill I learned while working closely within my group. Reinforcing the importance of work distribution and equal participation from members has helped me become a leader within my college group projects and my sorority. Overall, what I learned about interdependence has left me with healthy collaborative teams in college with no strain on a single individual.