Leaving Portugal, I have had time to truly reflect on my time there and better understand the many ways this study abroad experience has impacted my perspective on the world, my knowledge of business, and my understanding of myself and the people around me.
One of my favorite overarching things that I learned was just how much culture impacts business. Going into this trip, I knew various aspects of business would be different because we were in a different country. However, due to the vast globalization, we experience in this day and age, I assumed that at the end of the day, business was business. So with this in mind, I loved being able to recognize the many difference between businesses in the United States and Portugal as a result of cultural variants. In my first blog post, I mentioned that Portugal has a much greater focus on long-term investment and planning which remained true throughout the rest of our visit. Additionally, many companies did not just mention sustainability but explained how it was one of their largest focuses. While businesses based in the United States are taking more action to implement sustainable practices, it is certainly not the highest priority for the vast number of companies like it was on our Portugal company visits. I think this focus on the long term and being sustainable for future generations is something that we will be seeing more of in the United States in years to come.
In the United States, we often hear about the slower-paced European lifestyle. People work hard and do what is expected of them, but there is less pressure to constantly be on the go. I really appreciated this aspect of my time abroad and am hoping to incorporate this more into my daily life. Just sitting down to share a meal with my peers and not feeling rushed for the table or if it was getting a little later in the evening was something I truly enjoyed.
Ultimately, there was a huge variety in what I learned from my time in Portugal and I am eager to see how this plays out in my day-to-day life back as a student in College Station. I would absolutely recommend a study abroad to anyone who is interested as this was one of the best experiences I have had in college!
