Hello

Ming-Dan Zheng, Shanghai Internship Program

/in /by

The City of Shanghai from the Ming Pearl Towers

Interned as a Commercial and Marketing Associate with the  SARBEC Laboratories, Spring 2012

Internship: SARBEC is a French cosmetics company that is conducting business development in China. Completing CORE the semester before I went abroad really helped me in this internship because essentially this internship was one large CORE project. I had to look at marketing, operations, information systems, and financial aspects of the company’s development in China. Part of my job included traveling with my manager to different parts of China to search for reliable suppliers and distributors for our packaging and distribution. On business trips, I had the opportunity to translate for my manager from English to Chinese and vice versa; this gave me the chance to use Mandarin in a professional setting. I was also a part of the marketing efforts, which allowed me to research competitor products and to incorporate the 4P’s and branding strategies. As we are now in the digital age, a website is imperative for a successful company; therefore, I created a domain name and set up the company website. Towards the end of my internship, I got to work with some numbers to forecast future revenues and costs as well as optimization scenarios.

I Learned: I learned about the reliance on connections and relationships when conducting business on all levels. Additionally, I learned that Shanghai use to be a fishing village, and now it’s one of the world’s most flourishing and modern cities.

Hardest Part: The hardest part was finding relevant information on the internet. One can find all information he or she doesn’t need but will not find useful information when searching for business material. I needed to use other ways to reach the information I needed.

Best Part: The best part was exploring the awesome city of Shanghai that consists of an abundance of history. I also did a lot of traveling during my time in China. I visited Beijing, Hongzhou, Suzhou, Yunnan, Yiwu, Fuzhou, Huangchun in Anhui.

Erica Kurtzman, London Internship Program–Management Track

/in /by

Internship doing executive recruiting for the finance industry, Spring 2012

I Learned: I learned how to travel. It may seem silly, but when you are on your own in a new city or cities without your parents, it takes trial and error to learn how to make the most of the short time you have in any one location.  Each city has its own unique offerings and I enjoyed learning how to dive into the attractions, arts, and especially cuisine of each one I visited.

I also learned how to manage work and fun.  Although this has been the challenge of my whole college career, studying abroad escalated this.  I knew I only had four months to cram as much of London and the rest of Europe into my Facebook albums, but sometimes I had to stop and remember I was still “studying” abroad.  I  learned when it was time for a new adventure in London and when I had to still write that paper.

Comparing/Contrasting My Work Experiences: My office in London was a lot more relaxed than an office in America.  They were more lenient about lunch breaks and the office was a lot more social.  They often side-tracked and talked about outside work during the work day.  My current office still goes out for happy hour, but we save social interactions for outside work hours. I have not decided if the “European way” is more or less productive, but it is definitely different.

Hardest Part: Never being settled.  Although I loved my dorm and friends, I was constantly packing, unpacking, traveling and doing something new.  I would not change that if I did the program again, but it was hard sometimes never having a week or two of doing “nothing.”

Best Part: London was and always will be the best part of my study abroad in London.  I loved traveling to new cities, but I absolutely fell in love with London while I was there.  The sheer number of attractions there are to take advantage, paired with the culture and history of the city make it the best part of my study abroad.  I still feel that I need to go back just to appreciate the city itself again.

Andrew Berkman, Sydney Internship Program—Business & Econ Track

/in /by

Intern in Sports Marketing with the Australian Rugby Union, Spring 2012

Internship: After arriving in Sydney, I got an interview and accepted my internship with the Australian Rugby Union within Community Rugby, a department that promotes the sport across the country to school-aged children, organizing tournaments and Gala Days.  Another intern and I also had the opportunity to work at the National Women’s Sevens Rugby Championship.

I Learned: The study abroad experience taught me more than I truly expected.  I learned the Australian people are some of the most hospitable and entertaining people I have met, and their culture is truly unique.  I also figured out where I may want to live to pursue a career following graduation.

Comparing/Contrasting My Work Experiences: Since most of my internship experiences prior to the semester were finance related, they were vastly different from my experience with the Australian Rugby Union.  My two finance internships were in much larger work environments with more hierarchical and strict company cultures, while the ARU was more organic.  The Rugby Union was absolutely open to new ideas and opinions from a foreign intern.  On Thursdays we also had the opportunity to play touch rugby with our fellow colleagues including former players and current Wallabies coaches.

Hardest Part: The hardest part of the experience was by far budgeting my money.  Australia is an extremely expensive country; however, the experiences we shared were absolutely worth it.  It’s an amazing place.

Best Part: The best part of my experience was renting a car with two of my friends for the weekend surfing and swimming Byron Bay and then hiking around the rain forests of Southern Queensland.  I also spent a week at the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest snorkeling, hiking, skydiving and bungee jumping. I could go on forever about my positive experience and the friends I made during the program.