Hi! I’d like to introduce myself, I’m Beca Kubak and I am going to be a junior in college this fall! I study Economics and Marketing and then will minor in Retailing. I am so happy to call myself a Gamecock and love attending the University of South Carolina. In the beginning of my summer I studied abroad in Florence, Italy. I have a passion for traveling and loved my time in Italy. While living in Italy was fantastic, I noticed many differences between Italy and America.
Italians seem relaxed about everything, things get fixed when they get fixed! A pipe burst, maybe folks in the U.S. saw it on the news? It took weeks to get fixed. In America, people would be up in arms over the fact this happened and they wouldn’t have water for 24hrs or more, but the Italians acted like it was no big deal. Italians don’t seem as demanding, they just go with the flow. While not having water isn’t fun, their philosophy is more I am okay, the people I care about are okay, and we are safe and happy….Life is Good – La Vita è Bella! I can’t quite put it into words, their philosophy, but it is more accepting of awkward, inconvenient challenges- the ones that make life interesting. It is more about family and friends, during this whole ordeal with the pipe and not having water, they were just happy that no one was hurt. That’s how I was raised, family and friends being the most important, so it is nice to see a whole culture that embraces this. It made me feel more at home and also reminds me to go back to my roots and remember the little things aren’t such a big deal.
As a seasoned volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House, I feel my internship at Arts in Action is an extension of my interest in non-profit management. I love the idea of combining service work and mixing marketing and strategy development. What I am most excited about is all of the things I will learn from Arts In Action…grant writing, relationship building and communications. Arts In Action combines all my loves into one, and I can’t wait to learn from Grace and the other members of the team!
Written by Beca Kubak