It’s hard to imagine that we’re wrapping up this project already, as this spring has seemed to completely fly by! We just delivered our final presentation to CEOLI this morning, and I couldn’t be more proud of how it came together. I’m so grateful to all the people I met from this experience, and for the knowledge I’ll be bringing with me into my final year at Pitt. With that said, there’s a lot to unpack from this program as a whole, so a long reflection was exactly what I needed to put a bow on this chapter.
Key Lessons
There were a lot of important lessons to be learned throughout this experience. One that stands out to me the most is this: no matter how much you research and try to understand beforehand, you cannot fully comprehend the client’s situation and needs without experiencing the place and talking to the people who actually deal with them. We discussed this a lot through the class, especially when talking about active listening and client communication, but you don’t truly get it until you’re in the situation knee-deep. For example, our group thought we understood that the computers we’d procure would be used for speech therapy, but we didn’t know the other ways they’d be using the devices, or their plan to have one in each special room. We asked about training topics, and after hearing that hydrotherapy was the focus, we zeroed in on that only to find that staff had different ideas from Ronald of what the most pressing gaps were like effectively dealing with behavioral issues for the children. It was only by truly listening and going beyond just the surface level of our project that we were able to make these determinations and that enabled us to go down an even better route for the client in our final deliverables, especially with our professional development and network connections aspects.
Another valuable takeaway I had from the project was that there’s always going to be something that’s changing, so be ready to be flexible along the way. I don’t think there was a single day in Bolivia where the schedule didn’t get completely shifted around, sometimes more than once, or things started later than planned due to the cultural differences around timelines. Every time, we had to deal with that and adapt our plans accordingly, especially when it came to getting everything we needed done for the project on time. As someone who tends to like a set plan for the day and especially maximizing time when abroad to make the most of things, this was especially challenging to get used to internally. As I came in, I had the goal of really getting the most from our time with the client, but I was ready to just start interviewing teachers and set aside time to make the presentation, CEOLI’s staff had their own stuff going on and even my own team was busy and tired by the end of each day, which made fitting in the time to do it more difficult. However, this also taught me to figure out the right way to approach the situation with such a limited window to do these things, and we were eventually able to come together as a group and make a strategy to talk to everyone we needed and dedicate an evening to our presentation work. In class, when we talked about “Principles of Effective Project Team Management”, this was only further emphasized when it came to being a self-starter, thinking creatively on your feet, and tapping into all your resources. All of these things are interlinked with how they come into play with our deliverables, and that was definitely one of the readings that stuck with me the most because of it.
Looking back on my thoughts at the beginning of the program, I had no idea just how much went into this project, and even though I expected to develop personally, professionally, and academically, I still wasn’t prepared for just how impactful the actual work ended up being. I came into the program with the hopes of growing all those areas, and I’m so proud to say that I fulfilled them by far.
Transferrable Skills
As I mentioned earlier, things were never static on this project, so adaptability and resilience were extremely valuable skills I strengthened during the experience. Whether it was pivoting in the CEOLI classrooms when certain teachers weren’t available one day, or back in class when we had to switch gears after running into dead ends with our outreach for resources, there was never a moment when flexibility wasn’t essential. In addition, communication and active listening were equally important, since it was just as crucial to be able to truly understand the client’s actual needs and meet them where they were when it came to talking that through. Only by asking first what they wanted, clarifying, and giving them updates along the way did we build a relationship that was mutually beneficial and effective for our project, and by being intentional about our word choice, speed of communication, and other subtle details, we made sure everyone was on the same page at every turn. All of these skills are super useful for when I head into the workplace, as it’s very important for a professional to be able to handle challenging situations and have good people skills for interacting not only with clients but also coworkers. Both are key to being a standout candidate in the job market, and I’m so glad to have a great example to pull from to showcase them in interviews!
The Importance of Relationships
Like I touched on in earlier parts of my blog, relationship building was a really central part to this experience, particularly for our group, due to the nature of our deliverables. Overall, all teams need to build a foundation of trust with their client and communicate effectively in order to ensure the partnership is successful and can be maintained. However, our group did a lot more relationship work this semester, since we were not only managing our connection with CEOLI as the client but also reaching out to several other organizations and trying to establish long-term partnerships with them too. Facilitating that kind of a relationship was definitely challenging, especially as it was very hard to get that first interaction answered most of the time, but it was also a huge learning experience that ended up creating great new opportunities for CEOLI. The fact that Pitt already had such a longstanding connection with our client was helpful in that it made the work easier to start off, since there was already a degree of trust and understanding of how the relationship would work on both ends. Ronald felt comfortable enough to answer our questions and explain his needs, and on our end, we understood enough of what we needed to do to clarify what we had to, take resulting responses, and move the project forward. However, it was only after seeing everything in-country and putting in that additional effort that we really built on that foundation. Though the relationship started out well enough, by showing we were dedicated to giving it our all and really getting to know the facility, staff, and kids, our relationship only grew stronger as the employees and Ronald became more comfortable with us and confident that they could bring up additional information they may not have volunteered otherwise. I know that Steph said our group spent more time than past years have in the classrooms, actually observing and interacting with the people there, and I think that definitely paid off for us. Not only did we learn a whole lot more while we were there to inform our project’s next steps, but we also gained major trust from CEOLI by proving our dedication to understanding their work and improving it however possible.
Translating GSL Into Interviews
I’ve already begun talking about this program in my interviews, and it’s actually a large part of why I landed my internship this summer! Unlike most study abroad experiences, this one had so much more to offer in terms of transferable skills and practical knowledge, and showing I have global competency was extremely impressive to recruiters I’ve talked to as well. There’s so many good stories I can tell from Bolivia for behavioral questions, from overcoming a sudden challenge to stepping into leadership on a project to working with different types of people, experiential learning threw it all at us. And the program also helped me build more confidence, so talking about that experience in an articulate way that actually conveys results and not just responsibilities has become even easier. I can now say I’ve run a successful fundraising initiative that raised $3000 for a nonprofit, nurtured multiple international relationships for a consulting client, and more when speaking about my measurable achievements. Having those hard metrics will be super beneficial to coming across as a stronger fit for roles. As for how I’m going to frame this experience, I will definitely lean into the hands-on aspects as well as the nonprofit and global pieces, but since I’m hoping to work in the healthcare space after graduation, emphasizing the special education focus will be especially relevant for future interviews. The deliverables we worked on were not just for a client who works with children with disabilities, but they directly support improving the quality of care these kids receive, and being able to show I understand more about the specific needs for that type of work is key for my interviews. This program was comprehensive in that I went from research to execution on this project, and I got to make some important decisions along the way too, so I’m excited to tell the story of that impact when pursuing future opportunities.
3 Notes For New Teams
My advice to future groups for this program would be this:
- The client comes first. They know what they need better than you do, so listen first and then ask questions. Never assume you understand everything, but also use your eyes to figure out what isn’t being explicitly said. The staff at CEOLI may have different perspectives on what is needed than the higher leadership like Ronald, or circumstances might have changed in a way you didn’t realize. Sometimes observation is just as important as direct interaction, so combine both approaches between your teammates to determine the full picture and move forward from there.
- Maximize your time in-country. Talking to the client firsthand is a super valuable experience and the main reason you’re there, so make sure you’re getting the most out of your visits to CEOLI. Our group spent several mornings there, first just observing in all the different classrooms, then actively working to speak to particular staff members and understand more about certain activities they did with the kids. There’s definitely a way to balance that with everything else on the schedule while in Bolivia, so find a way to make it work. Don’t forget you’ll have to give the progress presentation at the end, so definitely also squeeze in timeslots to prioritize building those slides.
- Start communicating within your team early. Our team had a lot going on with our particular project deliverables, so splitting up the work and holding ourselves accountable was key. With 8 people reaching out to so many Pitt clubs, community organizations, branches of the university, and alumni, there were a lot of tasks to keep track of and being as organized as possible was our lifeline. But not only that, make sure everyone in your group talks through their personal strengths and connections they have upfront. So many of the relationships we ended up delivering to the client were because of our teammates’ own personal networks, and by capitalizing on the skills each person had, we were able to produce the best outcomes for our final project. So once you’ve understood the full extent of your assignment, sit down and determine who is best equipped to take on each piece of the work.
But most of all, enjoy this opportunity! This was 100% one of the best experiences I’ve ever had at Pitt, and I’ll never forget anything from this semester. The project was a huge development driver for me, I got to visit South America for the first time and immersed in the unique culture there, and we all seriously bonded within our team on the trip. This program is definitely a situation where you’ll get back twofold the effort you invest, so if you’re thinking about pursuing GSL, put your all into it and you’ll thank yourself for it!