As a third generation Italian immigrant, it seemed only natural for Mike Videtta to want to study the language of his heritage. His formal foreign language studies, however, came about as part of one of URI’s unique academic programs. Hailing from Canton, MA — a small town just south of Boston — Videtta entered URI as an engineering major, deciding to concentrate on industrial engineering. “Industrial Engineering is a good technical field if you want to run a business,” he says, “It’s helpful to learn how factories and people work, and how you can make things more efficient and look at them as processes.” With both a passion for engineering and a foreign language he wanted to incorporate into his studies, Videtta enrolled as one of the first students in the Italian International Engineering Program (IEP) in 2013.

One of the unique aspects of the IEP curriculum is the mandatory year abroad, designed to help students cultivate their language skills and cultural competency. During his time as an Italian IEP student, Videtta had the opportunity to study abroad in Italy. He spent the year as an intern at a company in a village outside of Perugia that specializes in building and selling concrete mixers. “I was speaking Italian every day,” he states, “It was a moment where everything I learned was brought together.” Videtta remembers an inspiring event that occurred while he was working with the company: “I was filling in a sales position for someone who was retiring, and they offered me the job to also help build rapport with the U.S.,” he relates, “It was cool to see the skills I learned in college come together for the benefit of this very niche position.”

After graduating from URI in December 2018 with a B.S. in industrial engineering and a B.A. in Italian, Videtta now manages a rapidly growing painting company, a trade he came into from his past experience. “Engineering definitely plays a role in the organization part of the job,” he explains, “I also speak Italian on the daily with my employees. Even though they mostly speak Spanish and Portuguese, we can understand each other pretty easily since the languages are really similar.” To future students, Videtta has this to say: “To people who are new, don’t feel pressured to go into just any field. You should focus your education and lives on something you’re passionate about… The skills you learn in the humanities will help you live a happier life.”

~Written by Chase Hoffman ’21, Writing & Rhetoric and Anthropology Double Major