About
Career Goals: Long term I seek to leverage my education in entrepreneurship, business, technology, and my international experience to start an international technology business. In the short term I seek to augment my experience with meaningful internships in international business and technology.
PERSONAL STATEMENT:
Studying at Arhhem School of business will give me the opportunity to enrich my business knowledge and cultural experience. I desire to study abroad to expand my cultural experience by living with people from other cultures, and educationally by exposing my self to a different education system. The knowledge, skills, and experience that I will gain from this study program will be critical to my success in an increasingly global world, and allow me to be a better global citizen.
I selected the Arnhem School of Business in the Netherlands for my study abroad program for many reasons but 2 reasons in particular. The first is that the school is well known for the quality of the business school. This is important to me because to succeed in my long term goals I will need a solid background in international business. The second reason for me selecting this program is the diversity of the students that I will be studying with. Rather then being in classes with primarily dutch students I will be living and studying with students from all over the world, this will provide me with an opportunity to learn about a vast number of cultures. Living with other international students will give me an opportunity to learn about and explore there cultures and ways of life. As I have always had a strong interest in other cultures this aspect of the Arnhem program, and its status as a well known international business school made it the best choice for me.
In preparation for my experience I have started to research a great deal of topics and to work on my communication skills. While the courses are being taught in English I feel that it would not be right nor polite for me to go to a country and not speak the language. To this end I have started to study Dutch language using computer software. Over the summer I hope to find a native Dutch speaker to tutor me so as to further refine my language skills. I have also started to learn about Dutch culture and history. In addition to this I am learning everything that I can about living and studying in another country to help prepare me for this experience.
In some sense I have been preparing to live abroad my entire life. From an early age I have been interested in other cultures particularly in understanding and experiencing these cultures first hand. Having explored and interacted with the other cultures in the US has helped to prepare me for this experience. While most of my culture knowledge is not specific to the dutch it will help me to understand, experience, and integrate with Dutch and European culture. My past experience specifically with dutch culture comes from talking to friends who live in the Netherlands, and reading about the Netherlands. Currently I only understand a few Dutch words, while it would not be necessary to know Dutch as the classes are taught in English, and many Dutch speak fluent English. Language is not part of my particular course of study but as I feel it would be both ignorant and disrespectful to not learn Dutch I plan on devoting time over the summer to learning to speak and read dutch. My prior knowledge, culture experience and desire to learn and experience have prepared me to live abroad.
Culturally this program presents some unique opportunity’s for me to expand my cultural experience. I have always had a strong interests in other cultures living in the Netherlands will allow me to experience another culture first hand. As the program is for 3rd year students whom I understand will primarily be 3rd year students from other European countries I will be able to learn about the cultures of other nations by living and studying with these students. For me this study abroad trip will provide me allow me an amazing opportunity to enrich my knowledge and understanding of other cultures, and give me the opportunity to examine and improve my own cultural ideas.
The Arnhem School of Business will allow me to further my knowledge of international business. As I see my self as a citizen of the world not of a particular country this experience will allow me to develop the skills I will need to survive in international business. I hope to augment the knowledge provided by the courses by seeking out and meeting with business owners in the Netherlands. This will give me new incites into global business and global entrepreneurship. Upon my return I hope to share this knowledge with my fellow CEO (Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization) Members here at UW Whitewater. An added benefit will be establishing global business contacts, this networking will hopefully allow me more future opportunity’s.
My personal desire to study abroad steams from my deep desire for knowledge and experience. I believe the Arnhem School of business will provide me with the perfect combination of international business courses and cultural experience. I have no doubt that this experience and knowledge will help me to achieve my future goals in international business.
Every day I see the product of globalization all around me, from the food in my fridge to the movies I watch, studying abroad will help me to be part of this world. I firmly believe that in order to thrive in this world I must have the skills to conduct business without borders. In order to play a role in my world I must have the skills and knowledge to become a global citizen. This study abroad program provides an opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills that will be critical to my success in the global society.
