Throughout the course of this semester, my team and I have been working with a non-profit organization based in Puerto Rico by the name of Caras con Causa. Along the way, there have definitely been some changes that tested my ability to adapt to a new environment. Some cultural norms that I foresee being problems when dealing with a client and conducting business outside of mainland America are mostly involved with communication and ideals. From what my team’s experiences have been so far, one huge challenge is increasing lines of communication between our team and Caras con Causa. While the main stream of communication is zoom and email, in the virtual environment it is definitely a struggle to stay on top of those communication lines and also be aware of what position the person on the other end of the phone is in as well. Therefore, it took us some effort and adaptation to fully become integrated with understanding our clients wants and needs for the project. To draw on that, from here on out what I foresee being the hardest task is trying to understand the environment of our clients without actually existing in that same space. For example, in our client meeting, the CEO of Caras con Causa talked to us about an environmental disaster that pretty recently wrecked their workspace and company site. While it did not leave the area in shambles, there were definitely ways that the disaster effected the students on site in their learning progression, as well as the financial stability of the nonprofit. He emphasized this when he talked about how the students existing in the Caras space, are reading and writing at a level two years behind where they should be. Additionally, to take preemptive measures against the detriment of future natural disasters, while also cleaning up the current mess, there is definitely an unknown financial stress that can be difficult to navigate. In addition to finances, the time it takes to rebuild what was once strong before, any hypothetical company would have to take a step back from their current business endeavors which postpones company goals. I think that we as virtual student consultants cannot fully understand the state of the organization unless we were to really be at the Caras con Causa site and observe what the current state of their day to day operations look like.

While there are improvements to be made in approach still, I have definitely learned a decent bit of unique lessons about conducting international business. I feel as if I used to be a student who never took much interest or ambition towards wanting to work with international clients or deal with foreign affairs at all. That being said, I went into the International Consulting Project looking to gain some insight on that premise. So far, my experience internationally has surprised me in that I have actually enjoyed learning about a completely new environment and assimilating to their workflow for the time being. Even though Puerto Rico is technically a United States territory it does still have the international feel of being overseas similar to how working with a client in Europe would be. I know that I have always been a person who embraces change and therefore, this project has definitely allowed me to explore change since I am currently working with business practices within the US through my classes and extracurriculars, but then easily flip that switch to taking an approach more tailored towards a different, more unknown environment. One way in which my perspective on global business has changed is that I now find myself more curious about the way business operations are conducted oversees, and how to be successful in that arena. Rather than just justifying that I do not want to take part in trying to adapt to something new, I am now trying to learn more and more about how to adapt. I think that adapting from an in person to a virtual environment also changed how I think about adaptability and the importance of doing so. Our advisors have also done a great job of facilitating a good coworking environment for all of us students and our clients, which has also made adapting to these new normals easier. These lessons have kept me more open minded and in turn prepped me to be a better employee for the future.

All in all, I am really enjoying my experience in the International Consulting Project and foresee a successful project for my team and I, at the rate in which we are working at. I hope that I continue to learn and grow as a student consultant, while adapting and regulating to the virtual global environment.