M I L A N O

Once upon a time, I moved to Milan for a design internship during my interior architecture & design studies. It was so long ago that in some ways it feels like a fairytale. Milan was where I jumped headfirst into my first position in the field as a design intern at an architecture firm in the Milan design district, and needless to say, it was the most challenging and best decision of my life.

Like any bright eyed naive student eager to learn, I can confidently say I had no idea what I was doing. I was on a mission to experience my field in a whole new light, and perhaps I was also looking for a little adventure along the way too.

The first thing I had to do when I landed in Milan was learn Italian, so my first 6 weeks was spent at a university to learn Italian. It was there where I met other girls from Europe & Asia, who were about to also embark on internships in their field, from fashion and industrial design to interior design & architecture. It was honestly a delight to have so much in common with my classmates.

Suddenly, my Milan life became so much more than just an internship. My new (and now life long) friends and I would spend our summer nights frolicking Milan's piazzas & cobblestone streets, making local friends, enjoying aperitivo, & collectively being in awe of living in Milan. On the weekends, we would hop over to the South of France, take a train to Venice, or jump on a quick flight to Paris and London. I really was living a dream.

Finally, it was time to start my design internship.

A Milanese architecture firm GBPA Architects in the design district took me in like family, and (thankfully) they also spoke English. Already having to adjust to the metric system vs. imperial system for drafting and renderings, one less worry with the language barrier was a genuine blessing.

My colleagues became friends, and I was shown the Milanese working lifestyle very quickly, at least from this architecture studio’s point of view: Stroll into work at 9am, take an espresso break at the corner cafe at  10:15am, lunch at their favorite Milanese restaurant at 1pm, and of course, another espresso break at the corner cafe around 3pm. The day ended around 6pm, with aperitivo afterwards, and depending on the deadlines, sometimes the days lasted until 10pm. My colleagues were not only kind, genuine Milanese, they were also incredibly talented. They produced beautiful work for local and international clients. I remember being so excited that I would stay late and help the team prep for their design presentations. During my internship, I primarily worked on assisting the head architect with designs for a set of private residential villas in Southern Italy. I daydreamed what life would be like to live in one of them as I drew out their floor plans, rendered 3D sketches, and built models to scale. *sigh*

When my internship ended, I wished I could stay in Europe forever. I could go on about my time in Milan, but for now I'll keep it short and sweet. The incredible people I met, the capabilities I discovered about myself, the experience I gained, and the invaluable knowledge I acquired about the process of design and architecture is something priceless that I will forever be grateful for. Milan wasn't just an internship for me. It was a launching pad into the start of my interior design career, and solidified my passion for all things creative.