The School was focused on elderly and women’s health, giving the participants the basic knowledge to understand psycho-physical well-being at his core concepts, but also specific cues on how to become a pioneer in addressing and treating defined groups of patients.

Even though Pavia was not new to my eyes, seeing other EC2U participants amazed and enthusiastic about visiting this Italian city generated that kind of feeling inside me too. For the entire week, this town seemed a different place to me, international friends and lots of activities had been the perfect recipe for some long-lasting memories and, who knows, maybe a future career.

The School was inaugurated with ice-breaking activities, like dancing and playing together, that helped everyone feel more comfortable out of their own comfort zone and know each other.

The first lesson was held by professor Rossella Nappi from Pavia who explained the main themes of the week and empowered us as students by saying: ”you, students, are the protagonists of this entire project [EC2U], you are the future and we would like to give you as many resources as possible in order to improve as new generations will pass by ”.

After an exciting afternoon discussing the cognitive function and big data management, we had a tour of the majestic botanical garden, where altogether achieved to hug the biggest tree of Pavia, a 45-meter tall plane tree that had been planted in 1778!

The second day was mainly focused on muscle-related health, how they work and their basic biology, followed by a practical session along the shoreline of Ticino with his beautiful bridge as a background and an intriguing lecture about nutrition and children’s sports life. In the evening we met all the Erasmus students who just arrived in Italy and joined the guided tour of the city and above all, the following party, that has been the perfect social situation to relax and have fun after this long day.

During the week we got the opportunity to learn about: breast cancer and osteoporosis in women, the huge health problems related to loss of appetite in the elderly, and how to improve their nutrition. We also had the chance to take part in laboratories about students’ health, pretending to be in turn, patients and doctors. Here after reading some statistics about university-induced health problems we worked in different teams to find innovative solutions on how to help and promote a good lifestyle for students during their stressful days.

Finally, great ways to make us experience extra activities have been rafting and the visit to the Kosmos museum, organized by EC2U with the collaboration of ESN Pavia.

Receiving the final certificate was only the cherry on the cake that this whole experience meant to us! At the end, everyone, both students and teachers,  was really hyped about this Summer School and looking forward to having a chance to repeat a similar experience !