«In Cambridge thanks to the Collegio Nuovo: I find a couple of firms and wait. One of them calls me for the interview, actually my first interview. To my surprise, after a week, they offered me a position as a graduate engineer and from then on I ended up sleeping until 9am!»
Without fail. Chiara gets a scientific high school diploma with full marks in Novara and tries the competition in Pavia, only at the Collegio Nuovo, and is admitted. She left it five years later, with a thesis for an urban redevelopment project in the former Aermacchi area of Varese. Professor Marco Morandotti and the Graduation Commission awarded her full marks (110 cum laude). In the year of her entry into the College, 2001-02, there were major expansion and redevelopment works: the kitchen cabinets were renovated and the wiring of the students' rooms for Internet was also completed, the transformation of the conference room into a multimedia cutting edge lecture hall began, while the Graduate Residence of the College doubles its spaces for accommodation and academic activity. Last but not least, the main entrance to the College will also be renovated...
Among the first challenges
Before leaving the renovated entrance hall of her College, Chiara was admitted to the summer language course at the University of Heidelberg twice: between one edition and another and between studies and projects, she found time to train in the sports team collegiate which in 2003 also regained the intercollegiate Coppone. She doesn't yet imagine, perhaps, that her future will be abroad, but not in Germany. In the meantime, she explores her possibilities, participating in the career orientation meetings promoted with Accenture by the Pavia merit-based colleges, as she says on Nuovità: “I presented two CVs, one more concise, the other with some clarifications relating to the thesis work and some work and training experiences that I intended to underline. […] Having followed the approach suggested during the course, the organization of the CV presented no problems. In terms of content, however, in addition to some inaccuracies and oversights, the proposed solution was an integration between the two CVs, specifying only that information that would otherwise be of little impact. So, on May 25, 2007, I can say that I have my curriculum vitae: the course was undoubtedly interesting, in the next issue of NuovitàI hope I can tell you that it was also effective!” The same year she earned the first Alumnae Association Award, now awarded annually to a graduating senior.
Today
“September 28, 2007: off we go! After having rested from the efforts for the final thesis discussion in Construction Engineering and the State Exam, I leave for Cambridge (UK) with the exchange place thanks to my College. The desire to have an experience abroad and to improve my somewhat too little English convince me. […] Another idea occurred to me at that point: why not try sending the CV to some engineering firm? After all, I had nothing to lose and an opportunity like this would certainly never happen again. I find a couple of firms in Cambridge and wait. One of them, Peter Dann Ltd., calls me for the interview, actually my first interview. To my surprise, after a week, they offer me a position as graduate engineer"(Nuovità, n. 19). Today she lives in Cambridge and is a Structural Engineer at the same firm.
Her advice
Try it, even without great expectations: “I've always considered the idea of spending a period abroad, because it seemed like an extremely attractive cultural experience. So, shortly after my graduation, I gathered my stuff and left for Cambridge, seizing the exchange opportunity offered by the College: it was now or never! I must admit, I didn't have high expectations. I've never been very interested in England. But I had to change my mind. […]The vitality of this place has led me to extend my stay, by looking for a job in my field and joining an engineering consultancy company. A great opportunity and a new challenge for someone who spoke English with gestures!”(Collegio Nuovo goes international .
