On Campus, Beyond Manhattan

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When I enrolled at CBS, just across town from where I’d been living and working for the past four years, I had no idea that I’d have such a global experience right in my own backyard — or howthat would help me see how important an international perspective is to succeeding in business.

I think it first hit me during orientation, when I met my learning team. A learning team is an assigned group of four classmates — mine consisted of people from Taiwan, Mexico, Thailand and the United States (though my fellow American had spent most of his life in England).

Not only did we work hard together, we also got to know one another as friends. We planned bimonthly dinners at restaurants that represented our respective cultures. We had meals at Thai and Mexican restaurants, savored homecooked Taiwanese food and Southern fried chicken, and (my contribution) had brunch — the quintessential Manhattan meal.

The globalness of my class manifested itself everywhere. My 66-person cluster alone represented 20 countries, and I’d daily hear classmates speaking to each other in Chinese, Spanish or German.

On a few occasions, heated debates arose, and I’d hear firsthand about economics in Argentina or trade policies in China and Taiwan or organizational leadership in African oil fields — all from classmates who’d been there. In some ways, it felt like we were living and studying within a mini-UN, able to challenge each other, debate issues and discuss topics within a multicultural context.

It was at these moments that I realized the importance of going beyond my familiar environment. I’ve learned that in tackling business issues, you have to be able to incorporate ideas and opinions that are beyond your own established beliefs about how things should be done in order to avoid stagnation.

I’ve been able to experience this concept on a personal level as well. Just as it’s easy to fall into established modes of doing business within an organization, it’s easy to fall into a blinding routine where you live. Having classmates so eager to explore the city has catalyzed my interest in immersing myself in the city’s offerings and I feel like I’m now experiencing my home environment with new eyes.

Observing my friends’ experiences of international discovery this past year has also made me eager to experience the same for myself — so I have decided to spend the fall semester at London Business School. I’m excited to have the chance to study business and management within a foreign setting and to expose myself to the methodologies, structures and worldviews of another global financial capital.

I’ll be back to blog from London this fall.



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