Hola todos! I just wrapped up my first day of work in Madrid, and this city has been nothing but exhilarating so far. After a red-eye flight where I slept for about 8 of the 9 hours, I made it to Madrid early last Monday, where I met my host mom, Valentina, in her cozy apartment in the center of the city. After getting to know her and her family, as well as getting the lowdown on the city’s gastronomy scene, I tucked in for one of the best sleeps ever after such a day of traveling.

Then, I spent the next two days getting to know everyone else in the EUSA program and going through all of the proper orientations on becoming a ‘Gato’ in Madrid, from not eating lunch till 2 pm, dinner at 10, and of course, the mid-day siesta. Afterwards, I took a quick weekend trip to the quaint beachside town of La Villajoyosa in Valencia, taking in some beautiful sun and sand before arriving back on Sunday night and getting ready for the first day of my internship.

After making sure my shirt and pants were ironed to a crisp, my shoes were shiny and my hair was combed, I shouldered my backpack and set off on the 9 metro stop journey to my new office. This summer, I will be working for BOND EMEA, an intelligence-driven customer service agency, and I will be working with members of their team in Spain, Canada, and Germany to create new training programs for one of their largest clients. During this process, I’ll be building and refining training programs, working with AI to see how it can affect the client and their market, and using client data to deliver on the KPIs they’ve asked for help with.

Consulting and the management industry has always been sector that has piqued my interest since I first went to take my kid to work day with my mom at her firm, Accenture, when I was seven years old. Now, as a 20 year old incoming college junior, I have the chance to really step into her shoes and live in the industry that has fascinated me for so much. After taking the majority of my classes in my marketing major this past spring, being able to step more into the global management side of my degree and learn more about how corporations function in such diverse environments has been fascinating. Even after just the first day, I am already seeing aspects of classes I’ve taken like Managing People and Organizational Behavior on direct display, reminding me that Pitt Business prepared me to go from the classroom to the city to the world.

The biggest core competency I need for the role is adaptability, because consulting is a constantly changing world, and I have to be able to roll with the punches. Whether the client wants sudden changes, a training test goes poorly, or a myriad of other scenarios take place, I, as an employee, have to be ready for anything, maybe not necessarily with a complete fix, but with an idea of what my next step will take. Going hand in hand with that competency is teamwork, because consulting is one of the most team-oriented industries in the world today. My team that I will be working with this summer is built of professionals with decades of combined experience working in countries across the globe and speaking over a dozen different languages. With so many amazing professionals around me, I can’t wait to learn how teams can be successful in the modern business environment (hint, it’s a lot of meetings and pings on Teams!).

In Spain itself, there is a unique sense of urgency that isn’t quite as quick as ours in the united states, but what it lacks in speed it makes up for in efficiency and new ideas Through the creative power of people working together, it allows teams to find more concrete solutions to their problems instead of temporary fixes that are just holding back the floodgates. While I haven’t had the chance to look at anything like this up close yet, I have had the chance to witness the numerous differences between our work environment and the Spanish one, and that brings me to one of the most important points of this summer. Being here in Madrid is an incredible opportunity for me to see the business world in a different light, and I don’t want anything to meet my expectations. By setting the bar in such a place that I am able to learn wherever I am, and whoever I am working with, I am ready to move into this internship with a clear mind and an eager attitude.