I first came across this study abroad program during my junior year of high school. Knowing that I wanted to study Marketing at Texas A&M, this program was a perfect fit, hitting all of the major cities and countries that I have dreamed of visiting my whole life. It is an absolute dream to get to travel to London, Paris, Avignon, Nice, Monaco, Verona, Venice, Innsbruck, Munich, and Lucerne over the next four weeks of the summer. In each city, we visit up to two businesses, learning about international business practices and marketing strategies. The company I am most excited to visit is BMW! In the future, I hope to work with luxury brands in the marketing world, and gaining exposure of a company tour, interview, and presentation will be so valuable in understanding what it is exactly that I would be able to do in such a role. In each of the countries we visit, we are required to interview one of the locals on their thoughts on America, their country, our differences, and any other questions we would like to personally ask. While this is a requirement of the program, I am so excited to see if my perspectives and opinions on what I believe they may say are accurate. I am expecting many negative views on America, possibly biased towards certain regulations that our country does not partake in or even certain political figures. I have also frequently heard that many people in Europe do not like Americans. Another crazy culture shock will be that the cities we are visiting are walkable, and we will be using their public transportation services. The only comparison I have for this is New York City, so I am excited to see how their system differs and what it is like to be in a country that is not car-centric. I am excited to see which of my views are confirmed and which are changed, and am truly grateful that CIBS has helped me partake in the trip of a lifetime!
