Last Day of Class!

I made it safely back to Florence and couldn’t believe when I woke up the next morning and it was Monday, April 30. You see this was the last day that my two classes would meet. It seemed like only yesterday that we had all arrived in Florence to begin classes, and suddenly that last day had arrived. Unbelievable!

It occurred to me while walking to school that I hadn’t taken many pictures of the school itself, and my time was running out. So here’s a look at where we’ve been spending out time the past three months:

Our school was conveniently located in the center of town on the Piazza della Repubblica. This piazza is actually rather new by Florence standards, although the space itself dates back to Roman days. In fact, where this piazza is now was once a Roman forum. It’s hard to believe! Much later it became the site of the city’s main food market. However, when Italy was reunified in the 1860s, Florence was named as its first capital, a role is served from 1865-1871. The city leaders decided that Florence would need a nice, brand-new central location for all those visiting dignitaries that its new status was sure to attract.

The food market was moved north, to the Mercato Centrale, which was also built at this time. And, then, the impressive Piazza della Repubblica was constructed, with this grand Roman-style arch as its focal point.

The building in which our school was located was actually attached to the very arch. We shared the same building with Pensione Pendini, which coincidently is where Laurie Lema and Kathleen Costa stayed while they were here over spring break. Imagine their surprise to learn that we were in the same building!

If you look closely at the building, you’ll notice some balconies with tall windows behind them. My classroom was behind one of those very windows, and here’s my view out of the Piazza della Repubblica from my classroom window. Imagine having to compete with that while you're lecturing!

The ground floor of the entire building is a covered portico, which makes strolling along it feasible in any weather. Our immediate neighbor was Edison Books, which seems quite appropriate. This bookshop also had a nice café and a respectable English book section. The only problem with the shop is that every day, right out front, a man stood, cigarette in one hand, cup in another, aggressively begging for money. After a while, though, he learned to leave us alone.

Looking out from our school, to the right, was another grand building, its ground floor lined with cafes. This building was actually in the process of being renovated the entire time we were there. What you see behind the Guess sign is actually a cover that’s been placed over the scaffolding to hide it, giving us a sense of what the building will eventually look like. I wish they did this more often in the U.S.—much more attractive than raw scaffolding!

Now, let’s take a tour of the school. Here’s our front door—solid, heavy, and open most of the day. If not, we simply had to ring a bell to be buzzed in. I must also say that we didn’t have an actual school, per say. Instead, AIFS rented space from the Dante Alighieri Centro Linguistic Italian, a scuola per stranieri (school for foreigners). Within the building we had several classrooms, an administrative office, a faculty office, computer stations, and a large gathering place for studying and socializing.

The entryway to the building was impressive, with its warm colors and brightly tiled floors. Our school was located on the second floor, which is actually the third floor to Americans. Here’s a student, Mohammed, making his way to class that Monday morning; he’s even early!

At the bottom of the steps is a small reception office for the building manager. She always kept the lobby of the building so nice—fresh flowers and decorations for various holidays.

The stairway was gorgeous—wooden banisters with decorative wrought-iron. The steps were made from a special type of stone unique to Florence called pietra serena (serene stone). They’re pretty, but they’re pretty hard on your feet when you’re climbing so many steps, especially early in the morning!

My classroom was great! It sat close to 50 people, in rather narrow rows. In fact, if you were in the center of a row, you were pretty much stuck there until class was over! But I had all the equipment I needed. Every morning the AIFS staff would bring me a projector for showing PowerPoint slides. I also had VCR and DVD players, with the capability of playing both American and European videos. And the sound system was amazing. In fact, if I must say, my facilities were far superior here in the 19th-century building than they are in our brand-new building on the DVC campus. (Sorry, but it’s true!)


Here are some pictures of my Business Communications class, right after our very last class meeting came to an end. What an amazing group they were! And let me tell you, this was not the easiest class to get to. After all, this was an 8:30 class that met Mondays and Wednesday—the first class that met after each weekend. Given all the weekend trips these students took all over Europe, it’s surprising that anyone was there on Mondays at all. But they were. In fact, out of 21 students in the class, 3 had perfect attendance, and were recognized for it on our last day. Way to go, Meaghan, Jonathan, and Mohammed!

This group worked so hard this semester perfecting their professional communication skills, both oral and written. We worked on various writing styles: direct, bad news, and persuasive. We also discussed employment communication, including résumés, cover letters, interviewing, and salary negotiation. Emphasis throughout was placed on intercultural communication, nonverbal communication, and professionalism. And the highlight, of course, was preparing oral presentations and PowerPoint slides to deliver to students at the University of Milan. I don’t think any of us will ever forget that day. They really shone in their presentations and made me so proud of them!

The second class of the day was International Business, which met Mondays and Wednesday from 10:30 to 12:20. Even though this class met on Mondays, it was probably a little easier to make it to. I had a whopping 44 students in this class (the largest class in study abroad history), and 12 of them had perfect attendance. They, too, were recognized on that last day. Congratulations, Frank, Kim, Aaron, Holly, Lauren, Lindsay, Charlie, Alyssa, Rebecca, Jonathan, Jason, and George!

Even with having such a large group in this class, we managed to do a lot. We took field trips to the Museum of the History of Science, the Santa Maria Novella perfume manufacturer, and the Alinari Photography Museum. They went on a walking tour entitled “In the Footsteps of the Medici,” during which they visited San Lorenzo, the Medici Chapels, the Medici-Riccardi Palace, San Marco, and the orphanage, Spedale degli Innocenti. In conjunction, they read Medici Money to learn more about the Medici from a business perspective. We also saw films about Luca Pacioli, the Father of Accounting, who first wrote about the double-entry system right here in Italy; Mussolini, who started the Fascist regime in Italy; and the evolution of corporations.

And we had some fabulous guest speakers. Lisa Spinali, the Executive Director of San Francisco School Volunteers and a leader in the field of volunteerism and civic engagement, spoke to the class early in the semester about communication and effective management. My husband, Chip Seefer (left), an attorney specializing in securities fraud, spoke to the class, very passionately I might add, about securities fraud and the global impact of cases such as Enron and Worldcom. Michael McIlwrath (right), senior counsel for General Electric Global, spoke about using effective negotiation and mediation to secure global contracts and to solve conflict. Judge Coleman Fannin, a mediation expert and founder of JAMS, spoke along with Michael about the value of using mediation to solve any disagreement.

Finally, we took a field trip to Milan, the financial center of Italy and one of the premier financial capitals in the world.


And even after all of that, here they are hard at work on their very last day, taking part in a negotiation exercise and completing their last quiz on Medici Money.


I just can’t say it enough—these students were exceptional, and I feel honored and grateful to have shared these two classes with them. They’re definitely ready to go out and take over the international business world!