The Global Perspective
Nubia Dickerson not
only studied abroad, she studied the world. She examined markets and visited financial
centers in Paris and Hong Kong and everywhere in between. Why
does she think her IPS gave her a definite advantage over her
peers? Nubia's thoughts are below:
About my Experience
I spent my spring semester studying the importance of globalization with a program called Global Learning Semesters. I participated in the Global Business Program which allowed me to take classes at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus, where I was based, and travel to multiple financial centers around the world.
After taking classes with an international focus in business, marketing and economics, I traveled to London and Paris to take a broad glance at the European markets and then went to Asia to examine rapidly developing markets in India, specifically Bangalore and New Delhi, and also China, specifically Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.
Highlights
While exploring these different cities, we were able to experience the cultures as well. I got to see a sideshow in Covent Gardens and have a wonderfully Parisian lunch in the Latin quarter. I was fortunate enough to make a trip to the Taj Mahal in India and see the Great Wall of China too! Of course there were also business site visits to American Express, Deutsche Bank, Wipro and a few others. I was able to sprinkle in some personal travel to Spain, Greece and Israel, as well.
Defining Moment
This experience showed me how unique the IPS program is. The program takes the approach of wide initial exposure to business topics and then a narrows later on. Many other business programs do not do this. Other students I encountered while abroad pretty much stayed within the boundaries of their focus. I found that this gave me a definite advantage over my peers.
Also, as I sat through different corporate presentations, realized how vital the presentation skills I learned in business ethics were. Overall, I feel like it was definitely a two way street--my IPS put me a step ahead of my peers abroad and now my study abroad experience has place me a step ahead of my peers at home.
Contribution
This experience heavily contributes to my IPS because it has provided me with a wide scope of what my opportunities are in the business world as well as where the focus in world markets will be shifting. This experience provided me with tangible examples of all of the concepts I learned in my core classes and showed me that everything we're studying has global relevance and importance.
