LANG-102 Intro to Telepathy for Beginners: Learning Soft Skills in Siena, Italy
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As you hopefully gathered from my newly created LinkedIn profile above, my name is Isaac B. Kapenga, and I am a freshman in the Hope in Tuscany program at Hope College, studying abroad IN SIENA, ITALY. I put that part in caps lock on LinkedIn for dramatic effect. And that’s why I am writing this post.
The question that has been lingering in my mind, and the theme of my first blog, is: What can I apply from my time here in Italy to my LinkedIn profile? I know I sound like such a bum for saying that out loud, but I want to make the most of my time here, and that includes my professional development.
I guess the first part that I need to spice up, and the most obvious piece, is experience. That section is a little bit lacking, and I’m not really sure what Italian companies would employ me, an 18-year-old American who does not even speak Italian. But I would like to make the argument that in Italy, I have already gained plenty of experience that should be professionally valued.
For example, yesterday, when I was at my gym finishing my last set of bench presses with my sweaty back pressed against the bench and my arms shaking in anticipation of the last hard-fought rep, I could not get that bar far enough off my chest to rack it. A man much smaller in size and stature than me came to spot me. After I re-racked the bar, I tried my best to talk to him, and, even with the clear language barrier, I managed to communicate my thanks and gratitude with a handshake and body language. Come on, how impressive is that? Don’t companies trolling for new recruits want someone with such good communication skills that they can get a message across without even talking? That’s almost telepathic?! (Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but you know what I mean.)
protein powder from Conad, an Italian chain-store grocery
Another example of professionally valued skills came later when the same guy came back up to me and demonstrated how to correctly do a triceps extension. He said I should go down in weight! Even though I could feel my ego saying “he’s smaller than you, he has no idea what he’s talking about!” I shut it down, thanked him for his help, and did it his way—which made a noticeable difference. To be able to check your own ego is another invaluable skill that should definitely count as experience.
my gym card that kinda looks like a Pokemon card
I would also argue that the time I’ve spent sitting in silence on a cold marble bench, late at night, looking up at Siena’s Duomo—covered in hundreds of statues, each its own detailed person—has not been a waste. Every single statue has been carved into the walls of the black-and-white striped stone, each a distinct person, seemingly tiny because they’re so high up. Sitting there, listening, talking, people-watching, reading, and resting in my own thoughts with something so grand and beautiful and dominant looming over me has been an experience of its own. I can’t yet put it into words, or tell you how it will help me when dealing with a disgruntled customer, but it’s still something you have to experience to understand. Maybe that’s gibberish, or maybe you might not have the experience to know.
All of these experiences and “soft skills” may not be as easy to see for their value as, say, a diploma or certification. But as I have learned from my readings in class of Rich Kurtzman’s Like A Fish In Water that these lessons are invaluable. Kurtzman argues that this growth is not only moving you towards future success, but also will bring you more happiness and understanding to your own life. I love that idea, and think it’s true.
I will be honest with you: I still need some of the classic skills building-activities so that my time here is not based only on my own subjective reasoning. I signed up for volunteering at a local food pantry–which I am very excited to start—and it will be good practice for my Italian. I also expressed my interest in teaching English at a local Catholic elementary school where I would only be allowed to speak in English. (The Italians strongly believe that when learning a new language, you do not need anything but that language). I am really looking forward to both experiences!
I don’t know what the rest of my experience in Siena will bring me, but I do know that even if all of my learning experiences an soft skills won’t fit on my LinkedIn profile, I’ll come out of this with many stories and life lessons that will shape me into a better man.
Writers Bio
Isaac Kapenga is a first-semester student at Hope College, on the Hope in Tuscany first-semester-study-abroad program in Siena, Italy, a program that seeks to establish the community of Hope in an international, diverse context. This is his first column for the Hope in Tuscany blog.
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