Student Mariasole talks about her experience with the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme
We spoke to student Mariasole Colombo about her experience with the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme. In this interview, she told us her interesting story and gave us some insights about entrepreneurship that you would not immediately think of.
From her room in Milan, I interviewed Mariasole via ZOOM. Although the interview was online, you could see the enthusiasm she radiated from the start when she talked about her experience. She is very happy with where she is now and what kind of work she is doing.
How she found out about the programme.
Mariasole encountered the program while looking for a job or internship. She was eager to find a way to apply what she had learned in college. She ended up with the company L'orma who encouraged her to participate in the program. Before this, she had never heard of it and thought she had to seize this opportunity. This opportunity could ensure that she fully develops herself in every way. She applied and is now working in Milan.
Making a difference
Mariasole started working for L'orma. L'orma is a small non-profit educational organization that develops and proposes sportive / expressive formative experiences based on non-formal education aimed at stimulating the personal and professional growth of children, teenagers and adults. Since it is a small organization, Mariasole really felt like she could make a difference there. "It really felt like I was part of the team and could make an impact." She is not the only young entrepreneur working there at the moment. The company has always been international minded and collaborated with outside organizations before.
What she had learned and challenges she faced
After completing university, Mariasole was eager to put into practice what she had learned. She enjoyed her study but really missed the practical part. At L'orma, she was given a lot of responsibility and freedom to work on various projects. She was working with other organizations from European companies. She really applied the research skills she learned from Tilburg University. She also got a look behind the scenes at many projects. She learned very well what really happens when you start a project and learned more about things such as finance. Most of the time she was busy with project management and the implementation of the projects. The projects were always collaborations with other countries.
‘’Some challenges that I faced were the scope of the things that I worked on.’’ During her internship, she was working on one project only. Here at L’orma, that is no longer the case. The scope is much broader. I had to reset my ways of thinking and that I do not always have to have everything on track.”
Why you should do it too
“If I had the chance to do something differently, is that I wished I would have found out about this sooner. If I had known about this a few years back, I would have already taken the chance. I would not have done anything differently besides that. When I came here, everything just fell into place.’’
The exchange is a big part and is very important, she would suggest everyone to do it to challenge yourself. In addition, it is a way to get to know yourself more. ‘’Abroad, you really learn about other countries and their cultures and challenge your own standards. Challenge your main standards and challenge yourself as a student. Put into practice what you have learned. It is challenging in the most positive way. It is a great stimulus to enter the labor market in such a way.’’
An interesting insight on entrepreneurship
‘’When I hear entrepreneurship or entrepreneur, there are many different interpretations. It is not always what people think. It is not the 50-year-old well-dressed man with his own company. An entrepreneur can be many things and people should keep that in mind.’’ For example, you could see Mariasole as an intrapreneur since she is an entrepreneur within a company.
Future plans
At the moment, she is still working for L’orma until July since she was approved for the exchange for six months. After that, she hopes to be hired by the company since the exchange has been very a very successful experience for both parties so far.
