My time at LSE Summer School

My name is Marianna, I come from Sicily, and I study Law at the Catholic University in Milan and in this blog, I will tell you about my first experience abroad at LSE Summer School... come with me!

The decision

First of all, what would drive a girl from Sicily, surrounded by sun and sea, to leave her city to move to London for an entire summer?

I have always believed that the most beautiful experiences in life lie beyond our comfort zone.

Although I didn't know what to expect, I decided to embark on one of the educational offers proposed by my university: the summer school, i.e., an intensive summer study programme, undertaken at another university.

I chose LSE without thinking twice.

Apart from being one of the most prestigious universities in the world and a key institution for the study of social sciences, not everyone knows that LSE, when founded in 1895, aimed to improve society, with a strong focus on problems such as poverty and inequality, and wanted to improve the education of the British political and business elite.

I found that as soon as you enter LSE you will feel part of this community, as if you have known it all your life.

I study Law at my home university, and decided to try out a new branch of law at LSE Summer School, which focuses on the more humanistic and practical aspects: the course LL110: Tax, Justice and the Economy.

The course provides an introduction to tax policy that links real-world debates about the tax system with ideas from a wide range of academic disciplines, including political theory, economics, and sociology, as well as law. The course helped me to make sense of conflicting views surrounding the tax system. The course takes an interdisciplinary approach that draws on ideas from across the social sciences to address two main questions: why do we have the tax policies we have and how can our current tax system be improved? The main examples were taken from the UK and US systems, but the insights generated are truly global.

Before arriving at Summer School, I had so many doubts about what this experience might be like - I didn't know anyone and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to fully enjoy what I was about to experience.

Luckily, within less than an hour of my arrival, I immediately felt at home.

In no time you will have a group of friends who will become your second home. You will meet people from all over the world without whom this experience would not be the same. I recommend that you live every single day to the fullest, every moment is precious, and you can discover new things and sides of yourself that you never thought you could have.

I will always be grateful that I embarked on this journey with courage and that I had the support of my family.

You will come home different, with a wealth of knowledge, and the desire to do even more.

Thank you LSE, for one of the best summers of my life.

Do you have a question for Marianna? Chat to her on Unibuddy.

This blog was written by one of our 2022 Student Ambassadors, who are here to share their stories and help you understand the summer school experience at LSE.