Before traveling to Trinidad, I attended two class sessions a week. During these classes, there were numerous of different things we would do. Some days we had discussions about an article that we read in preparation for the class. Other days we were given presentations in preparation for traveling abroad. Other classes we had a guest speaker teach us about consulting. Other days we worked in our small group that would be traveling with. In my time before I travelled, I learned lessons. I learned what it meant to work in a group again. I think you quickly forget what it means to work as a group when you haven’t worked in a group in a long time. I learned I had to trust my group members, that they would be responsible for their work they said they would complete. Things became out of my control, and I was ok with this. When we worked in our small group we had numerous assignments from writing scope of works to presentations. I think some key lessons of group work is to be flexible, understanding, cooperative, and to compromise. From things like the design of a presentation to how our scope of work was written, there were numerous compromises. Group projects take so much time because everyone needs to agree with the decisions being made. During my experience with the group work, I had a reading in the back of my mind that talked about the characteristics of an effective project team. In order to be effective, people will naturally fill into different positions that best suits their traits. The reading describes different team member styles, and the characteristics of each. There were team players, self-starters, influential, motivational, have skills and experience, dependable, can communicate well, committed, can think creatively, and are supportive. I think each group member was a little of a couple of these characteristics and we were able to balance each other out. During the in-country experience, I think we were all relatively the same in terms of our characteristics of a team member. One lesson I took away from this was that I think communication would be the one thing that changed in terms of our characteristic. Travelling can bring out different sides to people, while also hiding other aspects. I think for all of us, we each shined a little brighter in terms of our characteristics but also shied away as we were adapting to a new environment. In terms of my goals, they stayed the same for predeparture and post departure. I wanted to be a good group member, open to learn about the culture, and try new things. I definitely did all of these. I tried so many new things, which was fun, because I liked almost everything I tried.

While taking this course, I learned transferable skills in consulting. Prior to this course, I did not know what a scope of work was. Taking this course has given me a client, and a group to work on the project with. I learned what a scope of work was and how to write it, collaboratively of course. In the past I had worked with a group to complete manual labor and accommodate to the client with a well-built remodel. But I did not work with a group to write up formal documents that would be delivered to the client. I did not have to maintain a professional line of communication. I did not create marketing deliverables for the client. I did not work to make an inventory spreadsheet that would help them organize their assets. All these examples of transferable skills I gained in this course. It gave me a sneak peak of my future. Currently I am an accounting major, with a summer 2025 internship with Deloitte. Assuming all goes well, I do my job well, like it, and receive an offer I will be working for a Big Four accounting firm. Working as an intern at Deloitte and hopefully eventually as an employee, I will be working with and for clients. I will have to manage client relationships and know the professional way to communicate with the client. With all of this said, another transferable skill I learned is that you need to develop a personal connection to understand their wants and needs. I would say before travelling to Trinidad, we had a professional relationship with our client, Nature Seekers. When we actually travelled to visit them, we created a more personal connection. We were able to see their business operations, see what they do for ecotourism, and most importantly talk with them and getting to know who they truly were. Understanding why they were doing their job, and that they love it provided insight into better help them. It was really beneficial to form this personal connection. They also learned who we were and could better trust us and our capabilities. I think gaining a personal connection with the client to better understand each other is the most transferable skill I could have learned. The benefit is creating a personal connection will maintain a long-term relationship that’s healthy and flourishing.

Travelling to the client allowed us to form relationships. The relationships that I formed deemed to be so important to conduct work effectively. We gained insights on the client as we visited them. So, it was incredibly to create a relationship with all of the people who worked for Nature Seekers. The strength of Pitt’s relationship with Nature Seekers was also important in this relationship. Pitt’s relationship was all around positive with Nature Seekers which created a solid foundation for the project. I felt more comfortable working with the client, knowing that Pitt’s presence in the past had been positive. I think if the relationship was negative, it would have created an awkward tension between Pitt and the client. I am very thankful Pitt’s relationship in the past had been positive because it would have put a damper on the trip. We maintained the positive relationship for previous years so future groups can have the same positive experience. By maintaining the relationship, we were also continuing past years’ groups. This was an interesting experience, as I had never picked up a project that someone else had worked on before. But by continuing our relationship benefits both the client and student groups so more students get the opportunity to learn, because the client is accepting of this. In return the client will continue to receive help from students and inform more people about what they are doing, making an impact in the world.

If I were to explain this project in a professional interview, I think I would say something like this. This past semester I was in a global service-learning class. For starters I learned the difference between service-learning and volunteering. Volunteering is normally a one-time activity, and no personal relationship is formed. Whereas service-learning is a continuation of volunteering your time that forms personal connections with whoever you are helping. This was our foundation in the class because we knew we were a part of a service-learning project. We were continuing prior group work and trying to do a good job to keep a positive relationship for future years. So, what did we do? We were working for a client who was in Trinidad. They are a nonprofit that is protecting the leatherback turtles and engaging in ecotourism to teach the community. I worked in a group of six to create deliverables which were creating an inventory spreadsheet to organize their fixed assets. We also worked to create marketing deliverables. We created numerous posts that they could post on their social medias. Throughout the semester we communicated with the client to understand what they did as a nonprofit and what they wanted to accomplish within their business. We created a scope of work, so the relationship had a clear path of where it was headed. Over our spring break, we had the opportunity to go and visit the client. This was an amazing experience, and we were better able to understand the client. We showed them our deliverables that were in progress at the time and discussed what changes they might want so we could tailor them to meet their needs. Over the trip we were able to learn more about the turtles, and how the turtles are economically benefitting the community. We went out on the beach one night to work alongside with them and tag turtles to track, but also to ensure they were nesting safely. This was an amazing experience. We also engaged in their ecotourism tours, so we made jewelry from beach trash, and hiked to pools of water. We stayed in their compound and could walk over to the office if we had any questions about our project. We travelled home where we would finalize the deliverables and present them to the client.

I think the three most important things that future groups need to know is that Nature Seekers puts everything they have into their work. They truly care about the turtles and their community. Understanding how much they care should hopefully motivate them to work hard to create excellent work for the client. Another thing they should know is to be nice to everyone you meet. Talk with locals, get to know them. If you’re walking by say good morning or good night. This is so important because Trinidad’s culture is so kind and outgoing. You wouldn’t want to seem rude. Lastly, I would say be open to anything and everything. Try new foods. Be okay when schedules change. Be prepared to be hot and sweaty. Drink lots of water. Bring sunscreen and bug spray. Bring long pants for turtle tagging, but shorts are ok day to day. Bring water shoes that you can walk in the water with that will protect your feet from rocks. Make the most of the trip and enjoy yourself, you will love Trinidad!