MEET WBB

I was born in Munich, then moved to Varese, an Italian city north of Milan, after second grade. I went to the European School there where the people around me were from all over Europe and classes were taught in different languages. I would switch between German, English, Italian and French throughout the day. I graduated feeling like a European citizen, but I usually say I’m German-Italian to make things faster.

I found WBB in a brochure during high school: It sounded surreal to me and stuck in my head. I went back to the Bocconi Open Day my Senior year and met a couple of WBBers in person. It was when I talked to them that I realized that WBB would give me the opportunity to become more of a global citizen.

What I want to do has changed throughout WBB, as I noticed the different influences I have and asked myself what I’m actually a ‘nerd’ about. There’s an impactful quote I found: “There will be peace when it’s profitable.” It describes what I think you can get out of studying business in such a unique program: Finding ways to use business for good, whether that’s in sustainability, startups, fashion or tech or whatever you are interested in. It may sound cheesy but I can’t wait to see what the future holds for everyone of us, because WBB doesn’t stop when you attend graduation(s), it’s only the beginning.

"We are so well off in our current lifestyle, but there are a lot of things that are not monetarily measured. I want to be challenged intellectually, be curious, and also be a part of something so interesting and so new - and I noticed that there's a trend of similar people in the blockchain space. There is something revolutionary going on.

When I worked at Alibaba, they were doing some blockchain workshops, and that's how I got started. It's a whole movement. I think everyone, no matter what your background is, can play a part.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency is not just about technology and economics. It's philosophical. Society can be reshaped by decentralization. A lot of things in the visionary future are automated, but who is going to make the rules? What does the governance of consensus mechanisms and blockchain protocols look like? What's really important is the community. It is the community that needs to believe in the same thing to sustain it.

I'm building this community at USC as the President of the Trojan Crypto Investment Club. We want to start bringing in different players to build up a blockchain consortium. It is not an official organization, but a vision that brings all these clubs together.

I've been connecting with different blockchain startups and great people - I want to learn as much as possible right now. There is so much information and so much opportunity. When you are young, you're like a sponge, and you can absorb information so quickly. Different people have different aspirations, and I want to take a different route from my peers. I want to be entrepreneurial; it's just what my intuition is guiding me to do."

#MeetWBB

http://wbb.usc.edu

http://www.wbb.ust.hk

http://www.unibocconi.eu/wbb

Photo Credits: Amber Huang

"I was born and raised in a small town of 30,000 people called Vittorio Veneto, which is in the countryside of Northeast Italy. Up until I was 16 years old, I hadn’t gotten to see the world outside my small town. In fact, until I was 16, I had never taken a flight in my life. Despite that, I loved reading and learning a lot, which is one thing that people in WBB have in common — an interest in learning about things we don’t know about.

 

In WBB, it doesn’t matter if you’re a person who has lived in seventeen different countries. It doesn’t really matter where you come from or what your background is. What matters more is your personality, your interest in connecting with other people, and your readiness to learn from them. That is what makes you a good ‘WBBer’ or a good ‘world citizen.’ At the end of the day, WBB is a mentality. You live, you explore the world, and you share the same values... but you also have different ideas, different mindsets, and different ways of living. As long as you’re open to understanding perspectives from other people, you can only learn and grow as a person.

At first, I was a bit intimidated by this interview. I asked myself, ‘What’s so cool about me? Why do they want to interview me?’ because I don’t have a ‘cool’ background. I’ve lived in the same place for my whole life. I still haven’t seen much of the world except for where I’ve been with WBB.

But I think I can bring a different perspective. For the people who don’t think that they belong to WBB — but feel that they could belong if they had a different experience growing up — I want to tell them: if you think that you can do it, you belong. "

#MeetWBB #wbbfam #hongkong #WBB #italy

Photo Credit: Sebastian Centeno

“For my whole life, I’ve moved around from country to country. I was born in Argentina but moved to Costa Rica, Mexico, Switzerland, and then Russia to complete high school. It’s not a crazy story, but one day my mum showed me the WBB program website and told me, “You’re meant to be in this program!”

  

I experienced the biggest culture shock when I moved to Switzerland from Mexico. It was the first time I had to speak to people around me in a language other than Spanish. I would have to point to things in the supermarket and menu items in the restaurants… It was a challenging but fun experience. I felt the same shock when I got to USC. I had never seen a university campus like that – a town of students everywhere. Everyone was so welcoming and open. All the crazy events that occurred at USC throughout the year were overwhelming. I learnt that the first step to overcome culture shock is to accept this new “reality.” Then don’t shy away from it; go explore it to find the parts you enjoy the most.

WBB made me realize how similar we all are by allowing me to meet people from many different cultures. It’s scary to go to a different place, and you think everyone is going to be completely different. You can always find something in common with people, and once you do, you can build a good relationship. WBB makes me want to push my boundaries to get out of my comfort zone. When we put ourselves out there, we are able to see how others live and think. It’s our job to keep moving forward and challenge our complacency.”

#MeetWBB #wbbfam #USC #Milan #traveling

Photo Credit: Kaela Gallagher

“My mother is Russian and my father is Azerbaijani. I didn’t realize how much of an impact my parent’s culture had on my upbringing until I left Plano, Texas, where I lived my whole life. When I met my WBB family, I was exposed to many cultures and have been enjoying the diversity. I am still exposed to different lifestyles and experiences as my WBB journey continues. There are a lot of intangible things you see as you grow. All these little challenges, like having the courage to ask for something in the grocery store or constantly feeling out of place comes with a lot of tiny growth.

Recently, I joined the rugby team at Bocconi University, but no one spoke English. As the weeks came along, I tried my best to be friendly and open-minded and I started to build great friendships and also have improved my Italian!

In the summer before going to college, a couple of friends and I started a non-profit clothing brand. We made t-shirts with the drawings of child cancer survivors and then donated the money to Childhood Cancer Foundation in Dallas. Social Entrepreneurship was a way I felt instant gratification. I have a couple more startup initiatives. For example, over quarantine, I started a company called GreenRide. Carbon offsets for planes are very popular, where people donate their money to plant trees in developing countries around the world to compensate for their air travel. I was thinking there should be an interesting way to track and offset your miles with no environmental damage. I also got support from WBB alumni whenever I needed their advice on my startups. WBB has given me the open-mindedness and resilience to try new things, find my passion, and get support from our close-knit community.”

Photo: Andy Ho

Interview: Kellie Ling, Kaela Gallagher, Simal Gezer

“Philip Timothy Harry Urbano Lagus Andersson Bettencourt. That’s my full name. I’m half-Finnish and half-Portuguese, but I was born in Switzerland. When I turned 4, we moved to India. By age 7, New Jersey. Then to Germany when I turned 9. My parents’ work takes them all over so I was constantly moving and adapting to entire new worlds. Living that lifestyle as a kid was difficult, to say the least. There were language barriers that were hard to overcome, but I spent a lot of time with the people in each place and focused on bringing myself into that culture. I spent time with people my own age and integrated with pop culture—watching TV, playing all the latest video games and toys. Sticking myself into the culture allowed me to grow up like a regular kid in any country.

  

At the same time, the amount of diversity I was exposed to helped shape my outlook on adapting to new people and perspectives. I got to understand the value of experiencing so many different ways of life. We’re lucky to have a very diverse cohort this year. Everyone in the program will be able to learn from each other, grow from that, and bring together unique cultural experiences. It’s tough to go to a place far from home, and I hope to be able to use my experience to offer help with integrating into new cultures. Essentially, WBB is a continuation of my life, and I’m excited to experience anything that takes me anywhere.”

#MeetWBB | http://wbb.usc.edu/ |

Photo credits: Luke Del Core

"I was 11 during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. One Friday morning, I woke up and my dad told me, ‘I’m leaving. I’m going to protest.’ I didn’t know what was going on. I went to my room, opened my laptop, and there was no Internet. I checked my phone and there wasn’t phone service either–the government had cut all of it. We couldn’t contact our friends or family.

  

My mom packed a bunch of swine flu masks for my dad, and she said, ‘You could save someone’s life with this.’ All we had was the news on TV because every other method of communication had been cut. I just sat in front of the TV all day. We saw tear gas thrown at the protesters, right where my dad had said he would be. My dad came back with none of the masks–he had given them to all the elderly people that were passed out on the side of a bridge.

One night, looters came by my house and I had to sit upstairs in my room with my uncle and a shotgun. Since there were no cops, the only thing that saved us was my uncle’s Spanish friend, who brought his Argentinian pitbull and left her in our garden. For some reason, a lot of Egyptian people are scared of dogs. The looters came to our house, but as soon as they heard her bark, they got in their car and left.

After a few days, when things were safer, my dad took me and my sister to the protests. I had never felt so Egyptian in my life. When you’re amidst everything, you feel so patriotic, and you actually feel like you have potential–like you could be something together. You don’t usually feel so close to everyone else until you’re all fighting for the same thing. And all these people, even the super wealthy people who benefit from the regime, were just sleeping there, camping out on the streets–we even saw the president’s son’s best friend there. It’s just not a life worth living being under this kind of stuff.

I remember after the revolution, when we could finally see everyone again, every person had their own ‘revolution story.’ This was mine."

#MeetWBB #wbbfam #Bocconi #Egypt

Photo credits: Grace Yu

"Being a woman in India is not easy.

I went to a family wedding once, and a family member asked my dad 'why are you wasting money sending your daughters all the way to the US to study? At the end of the day, they are just going to do housework and raise children. Why not just save the money and send them to any university in India?' My dad was so angry. The expression on the man's face when my dad expressed my intentions of taking over the family business was priceless.

I'm lucky that my parents are very progressive— In my immediate surroundings I feel empowered. My dad has my sister and I attend his business meetings, and he encourages us to share our ideas and pitch in. He teaches us to be leaders.

However, I live in a country where many people cannot see past traditional gender roles. That's why I want to eventually work towards women's empowerment, especially women's safety, in India. My city, Delhi, is known as the rape capital of the world. Our metros have a separate compartment because of the high levels of sexual assault committed on public transportation. The lack of women's safety hinders women's empowerment— If you can't even go to your job and come back home safely, how can you have career and live an independent life?

I eventually will have to work with the same close-minded men who think women like me can't make it in life. I know it'll be hard, but I refuse to be negatively influenced. I am resilient."

#MeetWBB

http://wbb.usc.edu

http://www.wbb.ust.hk

http://www.unibocconi.eu/wbb

Photo Credits: Amber Huang