When I first signed up for this class, I had some expectations. I went into it knowing that we would be conducting a project with an NGO in Trinidad and I was given plenty of details. My thoughts now compared to when I first signed up, however, have changed drastically. I didn’t realize how the work we would be doing would actually help the NGO, but I now realize exactly why. As we spent time in class discussing the topic of service learning and preparing for our own trip, I realized that we actually would be making an impact. In class, we talked a lot about the difference between going on a trip with the intent of service learning and how important it is to actually leave a lasting impact. With everything wrapping up, I can confidently say the work we did alongside Nature Seekers and Amizade was a successful service learning experience. I learned how to properly prepare for a business meeting with a partner and how to effectively communicate in a consulting sense. The project helped me understand what to expect in the corporate world when it comes to meeting people and presenting myself. Most importantly, we learned all about Trinidad’s culture and got to see firsthand what we learned about. I have learned a lot about meeting with people from another country and learning to be open to all kinds of new things. We also worked well with our partners and as a team which made the entire process that much smoother. This trip helped bridge the gap between school and the working world and allowed me to meet some incredible people along the way.

One of the most important things I learned throughout this course is to be an effective communicator. Throughout the semester-long project, we had to consult our partners about their needs and requirements for our deliverables. At the beginning of the semester, I was assigned to be the point of communication with Nature Seekers representative Chelsea via email. Through this role, I realized just how important communication is when working with people. Throughout our project we had to ensure that we were always on the same page with each other as a team, our professors in the class, and our partners. This meant that when we made substantial progress on the deliverables or had to consider a major change or idea, we had to run it through some people. This meant frequent emails with clarification questions that also served as follow-ups and progress checks. It was interesting to write these emails because they felt pretty professional. While writing them, I got tips from my team members and professors on how to word what I was saying and what things to include and exclude. I definitely learned how to better write a professional email meaning how to word questions to get the information I need, how to properly start off a follow-up email, and how to respectfully and professionally sign emails. While these skills seem very basic and not very important, they play a huge role in consulting and effective communication which will help me in my profession. I also learned the importance culture plays in effective communication considering there are different standards in different parts of the world. I hope to work in international business postgraduate and it is important to learn about different standards in the world for this profession. In Trinidad’s culture, it is not out of the ordinary for people to take some more time with responses. I learned that being lenient is very important in Trinidad so throughout this project I stayed very relaxed when waiting for responses. This also made me realize how important it is to be detailed in emails because when you get a response, you want to make sure it has all the information you need.

While we were in the country and even before we arrived, we were meeting with lots of different people. From our professors to classmates, partners in Nature Seekers and Amizade, guest lecturers, and even tour guides in Trinidad, there were quite a few people. Meeting all of these new people proved to be both challenging and rewarding. To start, our classmates and team members provided a first option for questions and friendly, familiar faces to work alongside us throughout the project. Our classmates along with professors, who guided us through the entire thing and were always available for help, were the backbone that we all needed to get through this course. Meeting our partners in Nature Seekers and Amizade was one of my favorite parts of the trip. There were two aspects to meeting these partners, the professional side and the friendly side. To elaborate, we spent a lot of time in the country. That meant that we spent a lot of time with the people we were meeting when we weren’t actually doing any work. We spent a lot of time just talking to the people we met at Nature Seekers and actually got to know them as people. We learned card games they played, ate the food they ate, and even tried their favorite ice cream. While the trip is a professional experience, I think that it is incredibly important to get to know the people you are working with and that is something I will definitely transfer into my career. On the other side, we did spend a lot of time learning from our partners and working alongside them. While at Nature Seekers, we learned a lot about their operations and how they conduct the work they do. We spent time going over our deliverables and comparing what we had to what they wanted. I got to learn how to work with a partner face to face and in a great environment too because they loved what we presented them. To give some background, this is Pitt’s first year working with Nature Seekers in Trinidad. There has been a break from the program due to covid and this was the first year back. To get entirely new clients and be the first year of students to work with them is definitely not an easy task. But what I learned is that through the relationships we built, we were able to make the entire process a lot easier. I am incredibly thankful for this experience because this lesson is such an important one to take into the working world.

With this course being a semester-long and a lot of work, it is hard to summarize it briefly and in a professional sense. However, I would describe the experience as a successful service-learning project in Trinidad and Tobago. We worked with an NGO that works to save turtles on the beaches of Matura by tagging them and tracking data on their movements and nesting. In collaboration with the NGO, Nature Seekers, and another partner Amizade, we created a soft fixed inventory tracking system along with numerous marketing deliverables in the form of social media posts. We learned valuable lessons in consulting in a business environment and effective communication. We also got a deep dive into Trinidad’s culture with our 7-day immersive experience in Port of Spain and Matura. We learned about the operations of the NGO, cultural differences in conducting business in Trinidad, and history and important information about Trinidad and Tobago as a whole. Overall, the experience gave me a foot in the door of how international business works and how to work cohesively with a team and numerous partners.

As I stated earlier, this was Pitt’s first year working with Nature Seekers in Trinidad. That being said, I have some recommendations for future groups going to Trinidad and future groups as a whole.

1. Be open to meeting new people. I just wrote endlessly about how important it was to meet all the people we met throughout the course. However, that still doesn’t do justice to just how important it is to have normal conversations. The whole point of the project is to not only successfully complete your scope of work but also to learn about the place you’re going to and what work you are doing. By talking to people in the country you will learn about their culture and what they do from the best source possible. Everywhere you go it is important to create strong connections with people and learn new things about other people. Trinidad and Tobago is no exception.
2.  Ask Questions. This is probably the most obvious advice but you should really ensure you do this. The project you are doing is not easy. You are given so many resources in the form of professors and classmates because they are there to help. When you ask questions, you get a better idea of what you are doing and therefore can work more effectively. No question is a stupid question.
3.  Make use of class time. Everything is much easier when you are in person with your team and professors. You are given a substantial amount of time in class to get work done and if you focus on that time you are given, it is going to be so much easier for you.

With the trip and the blogs now done, I want to thank everyone one final time. This project and course were amazing and it wouldn’t be possible without everyone involved!