By Brooke Famous ('17)
What if you had the choice to pack all your belongings and move to a different country after graduating from college? For Cabrini University alumna Nichole Capizzi (’15), the decision was easy.
Wanting to experience something new, Capizzi decided that, after graduation, she would move to Frankfurt, Germany, with her boyfriend and Cabrini classmate Enrique Montoya (’15), who is from Germany and was offered a position (after completing a 2014 summer internship) at Automotive Resource International, a global automotive fleet management services company.
On July 1, 2015, Capizzi made the move, knowing very little of the language and of the Frankfurt area (previously, she had visited Montoya’s family in Berlin, about 340 miles north).
“Prior to moving, my German vocabulary included, hallo (hello), tschüss (goodbye), and prost (cheers),” Capizzi said. “A year later, I would consider myself conversationally fluent. A great advantage to learning German here—some might also argue is a disadvantage—is the German above-average level of English proficiency. If I’m unsure of a specific word or pronunciation, I say it first in English, and in most cases, whoever I’m speaking to gives me a direct translation.”
Because of the language barrier, Capizzi sought employment opportunities with English as the primary language, and focused on companies—instead of job vacancies— that were the right fit for her.
“I absolutely loved my time at Cabrini,” Capizzi said. “I was lucky I had a few really great internships [while at Cabrini] which helped me to decide where I could and could not see myself.”
With her internships at 101.1 More FM in marketing and promotions, at WPVI-TV as a production assistant, and at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals as a Global Commercial Operations and Sales Services intern, she met mentors and inspiring colleagues and developed her personal leadership and teamwork skills.
Capizzi is working as a Social Media Trader for Havas Media, which is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing global communications groups. She is responsible for auction-based social media campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms.
In addition to the challenge of learning a second language, Capizzi has had to adjust to the different corporate culture in Germany, most notably in how they communicate.
“Germans are generally more direct than Americans, especially when it comes to stating facts, offering criticism, and giving orders,” she said. “They’re very goal-oriented in their interactions and don’t do small talk. But I work with a great group of very talented and dedicated people that make me look forward to going to work every morning.”
With all of the challenges that Capizzi has had to face by living away from home, in a new country with a different language, she has experienced more personal growth than ever before.
“I've become a stronger, more self-reliant, independent version of myself,” she said. “Living abroad has given me the opportunity to experience a completely different way of living, to spend my weekends traveling to other European countries and to meet people from all over the world whom I otherwise wouldn’t have met.”
Would Capizzi recommend living abroad to anyone who might be considering it?
“In a heartbeat,” she said. “I don’t know anyone who has regretted moving abroad, but I know plenty who have regretted staying behind.”