I truly cannot believe we finished our final presentation for our clients. I had a great experience this semester working on this project, and it’s honestly flown by. I really hope that NatureSeekers will be able to utilize some of our ideas that we presented. After our presentation Kyle, who has been our main contact from NatureSeekers, seemed really excited about some of the ideas. Throughout this experience, I’ve learned that Zoom study abroad can be just as valuable as study abroad that involves a plane and passport! I’ve learned a lot, met great people, and gained some valuable transferable skills that I will discuss later on in the post. A year ago today, if you told me I could study abroad via Zoom, I would’ve likely laughed at the idea. Going into this experience, I was honestly a bit skeptical about studying abroad through a virtual setting. It’s been a great experience however, and I’m so glad I took a chance and applied. 

Additionally, this project proved to me that teamwork really does make the dream work. I really enjoyed working with my team and we definitely could not have accomplished all that we did without a huge amount of collaboration and encouragement. We were constantly communicating in our group message throughout the semester. Our team was able to bounce ideas off of one another and hold each other accountable. Zack, Libby, and Bianca were able to head the Marketing plan while Stella and I worked on the feasibility plan together. We were able to split up the work so everyone worked on what they were strongest at. I believe this created the best possible results for the client as well. 

I also learned how beautiful Trinidad culture is. It was a true pleasure meeting the country’s people and learning about traditions. Once the world opens up, I would love to actually visit the country and perhaps visit NatureSeekers in real life. I especially want to try the food and experience Carnival! 

An example of a transferable skill that I have learned through this experience is flexibility. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, While meeting with our clients in Trinidad, the wifi was a real issue. It created awkward moments and we had difficulty collecting the information we needed. In this project, we had to be ready for anything and had to adapt very quickly to any difficulties. This summer, I will be interning at PNC in their Capital Markets line of business. Many of my mentors have told me that work in capital markets is extremely fast-paced and always changing. I think this project and the skills of flexibility will transfer very well into this internship. Hopefully, this skill will help me be a more valuable asset to the team I will be working with. 

When we initially started the project, our group faced some major confusions as far as relationships with our client. Initially, our project was supposed to focus on two organizations: NatureSeekers and DORCAS women’s group. However, due to DORCAS poor WIFI connection, we were unable to meet with them and were not able to heavily feature them in our project. Continuing the project with NatureSeekers definitely helped our relationship. We built a great relationship with Kyle through our continued communication with him. This relationship was key to the success of our partnership. He was very responsive to our emails and was a great resource. His guidance pointed us in the right direction as far as how our group could be of the greatest help to him and the turtles. His perspective was very important as he was able to illustrate to us the damaging effects that COVID restrictions had on NatureSeekers’ income. 

I am definitely looking forward to talking about this experience in an interview one day. When speaking to an interviewer, I plan to highlight that I made a cost analysis for the group, which is great real world experience. This would be relevant because I am a finance major and will likely interview for finance related roles in the future. Additionally, I would talk about the teamwork and flexibility soft skills I gained. This experience would also be great to talk about when asked about a time I overcame challenges. Overall, working with a real life client and adapting to their needs has prepared me well for employment after college, and I look forward to putting my new skills into practice.

There are three main pieces of advice that I would give future groups moving forward. First, utilize your resources. Ask anyone you know in past groups for advice and reference their past work to see the progress that has been made and where the project needs to go. Hillary, Arielle, and Meade have been great resources to us. Sam Hovis in the study abroad office was also a great source of information for us because she worked on the Trinidad group last year. They are experts on your client and know so much more than you do. Be sure to take advantage of it! 

Second, build a solid relationship with your team. You will spend a lot of time with your team doing work, so it makes the time go by a lot faster if you are friendly with them. When you and your team have a good relationship, it makes bouncing ideas off of one another easier and will produce a better product for your client. Additionally, throughout the semester, you’ll need your team to have your back if you can’t make it to a meeting or have too many midterms to work on the project right now. Being friends with your team makes the experience better. 

Third, have fun and don’t stress too much! Working with clients in another country on an incredible cause is an amazing opportunity that you likely won’t have again in your life. There are so many opportunities to learn and grow, so be sure to fully take advantage of them. Make sure to enjoy the journey and build strong connections with your team.