There were many lessons that I learned through the course of my experience both in class and abroad, but if I could sum it all up into one key lesson, it would be to embrace the diversity of life. This was my first time traveling abroad, and I was very nervous about this experience. I have spent most of my life living in my own bubble of my Nigerian and American culture. In my second blog, as I had to write about things nervous about for the trip, I was very much nervous about the cultural difference between Trinidad and my own. But as I have reflected on the class and my experience abroad, I realized the greatest lesson I learned was to just embrace diversity. Many of the class discussions and in-country experiences built me up for this moment to come to this realization. One discussion that very much helped this stemmed from the reading “Points of Discomfort: Reflections on Power and Partnerships in International Service-Learning” by Erin K. Sharpe and Samantha Dear. In this reading, there were many great points made about discomforts this group had from their experience, but as we discussed this reading in class, I believe many of the points we had were stemmed out of fear rather than reality. I remember leaving that discussion with the point being that one should be ready to be flexible because there may be things that we may not be comfortable with that will occur; however, I will say within that try to not see these lapses as things that are “going wrong” but rather just another lens. I learned that things that may not be part of what I initially thought for the trip were just reality from another lens and all I needed to do was to embrace the diversity. This also led to a skill that I ended up learning from the class and the trip.

A transferable skill that I learned and developed through the course of the semester was adaptability. When the class first started, this being adaptable was greatly emphasized due to the nature of the class. This class has not been in full session since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. So this meant after four years, we were the first class to revamp these relationships with non-government organizations in the country and also Amizade. The development of flexibility occurred through readings and in-class discussions. The skill of flexibility was further enhanced while in Trinidad. In country, we experienced many situations in which flexibility from our group was vital. There were many instances where our schedule was changed last minute or where we were not told the proper information. On our second to last day in Trinidad, this happened a lot. The group went to Fondes Mondes, which is a non-government organization that is focused on reforestation and the fighting of wildfires. When we arrived at the site, we were told that we needed to wear long sleeve shirts and pants, but our entire group was wearing short sleeves because we were not told this prior to. Later on, we were then told we would be visiting a pond to swim in, but we were not told this information prior to so none of us had bathing suits with us. Situations like this caused us to be very flexible. In the situation of no swimsuits for the pond, we instead decided to still enjoy the scenery and just have our feet in the water. Making the best out of situations by utilizing our flexibility was a great lesson for both myself and my group. This skill is very important to my future profession. I hope to become a technical product manager in the future. This role involves me overseeing multiple mini-teams to make sure that a product is made and placed on the market. This role requires flexibility because anything can happen during the project lifecycle that will involve one to think on the spot and be able to help the team adjust. Changes in budget, scope, and many other things can happen and I will have to be flexible to overcome.

Relationships were very important in conducting the work of this project. The holes in the diminishing of the relationships between Amizade and Nature Seekers were shown at times which reflected the gap the Covid-19 pandemic placed in many relationships. However, I believe that the rebuilding of the relationships was properly done and they are moving in great directions. The holes that were present hurt our deliverables because there was a lapse in communications in information and timing of things. Even sometimes, we did not know how to contact our main point of contact for Nature Seekers. Although we were flexible, these did cause points of frictions. However, as we continued the project, the relationships were strengthened as communication between both sides grew and an understanding of how to best work together was formed. On our last day with Nature Seekers, the relationship grew to a point that we felt comfortable giving recommendations for what they should do for the next University of Pittsburgh group that will come.

My goal is to become a technical product manager after graduation from Pitt. The role of a technical product manager is to oversee, manage, and guide the lifecycle of a product to completion. This class and the project I completed will greatly benefit me in interviews for this role. As a technical product manager, I will be required to create a scope of work and be able to communicate the status of the product, these are both things that we did in this class. I would explain in an interview that I acted as a consultant to a foreign nonprofit and helped them conduct business transformations in both their inventory and marketing. I would also tell the interviewer that this opportunity aided me in my communication, product/project management, and adaptability skills. I would pitch this experience by placing the emphasis on the foreign aspect of this program and how it aids in international communication.

If I could give advice to future groups it would be, do more research on Trinidad and its current state, be open to making long-term friendships, and bring a waterproof case for your phone. I was able to do some research on Trinidad on my own and also with my group, but I believe I could have spent more time learning. As a foreigner, especially from the United States to a different country, it is important to be able to understand the culture that you are traveling into. It is very easy to come off as an “uneducated American” so it is very important to understand so you have better and deeper conversations with the locals. The next advice of being open to making long-term friendships will help make the experience more personal and lasting to yourself. Be open to making friendships with your class group that travels together. This experience does not have to just be a class group or experience, but it could be one that is maintained forever. Also be open to making friendships with the people you meet abroad. I was able to connect with people around my age range that played a part in our trip to Trinidad. I would definitely say connect with them and even go as far as having their social media. Now you are able to say you have a friend in Trinidad and someone to connect with if you ever choose to go back in the future. It also helps the project itself by helping create a longer-term relationship that is needed. My last advice is to have a waterproof case for your phone. I did not realize how many water excursions we would actually have in Trinidad. It seemed like every day there was another event that included us getting in the water, even things that were not initially in the schedule. Because of this, I would recommend that you not only bring extra swimsuits but that you also bring a waterproof phone case so that your phone remains protected at all times. Unfortunately, I broke my phone during one of the water excursions and that was not a great experience for me.

This is truly one of the better classes and experiences I have had throughout my Pitt experience. I am proud that I got to complete my initial goals of learning about a community outside of my own and being able to participate in lifelong service learning. I recommend that everyone and anyone should take advantage of this opportunity to not only get to experience Trinidad but make a change through the project you are working on. I look forward to seeing you how this project progresses for years to come and I hope I get to still be able to make an impact of my own.