INTRODUCTION

Regina Abrami, Global Program Director, writes ….

Welcome to the Global Program Summer Immersion blog!  On June 2^nd, the Global Program’s inaugural class – each of whom you’ll get to know a bit better below – embarked on a two-month multi-country summer immersion that included visits to five countries, and multiple cities.  These included the United States (South Carolina and Washington, DC), China (Beijing and Shanghai), Singapore, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, and Arusha), and the United Kingdom (London).  

At its core, our hope was to understand first-hand how government policy, innovation, leadership, no less a country’s socio-cultural composition, political system, and history, have influenced a country (and industry’s) position in the global system today. Below is a sampling of student reflections. 

In case you’re wondering, summer immersions – a requirement of all Lauder students – continue to distinguish the Institute’s approach to preparing M.B.A. and J.D. students for cross-border careers.   Now in its 30^th year, the Lauder Institute remains at the forefront of immersive field-based learning for professional students. The Global Program is its newest addition. To learn more, please visit:  http://lauder.wharton.upenn.edu/ .  Here you’ll find information on this program and our other nine offerings. 

Roberto Blum, GP Class of 2015, writes ….

On June 2^nd, after a full month of preparations, our summer immersion was finally started. On that rainy afternoon, I left Philadelphia to South Carolina with a mixed feeling of anxiety, curiosity and eagerness for new discoveries. I was heading to a southern state and this fact itself was a quite an unconventional one to me.  As a Brazilian national, calling South Carolina "South" was somewhat an upside down world. Indeed, South Carolina surprised all of us. We visited several interesting organizations, whose managers warmly welcomed us. Delicious food and lovely people were other features of South Carolina’s distinctive characteristics, although none of these was comparable to the beauty of Charleston neighborhoods.

However, the most amazing fact of our program was what I call the Marvelous Global Wonderland: seven students from diverse work and life backgrounds, able to speak 10 languages and comprising altogether 9 different nationalities. Early on, as our corporate visits advanced, it became clear that our skills were diverse, and our curiosity, boundless. Interaction with our hosts was always intense and all visits ran out of time in the midst of endless questions.

Similar to gears in a Swiss clock, each global program student contributed to the group in a different and complementary form, adding up a personal flavor or assuming a specific role. As a consequence, the result of our collective interaction was much greater than the sum its parts. Indeed, as a group we formed a uniquely pleasant and supportive environment. And obviously, I cannon finish this post without giving a hint of some of the individual characteristics.

First of all, Emilie’s bravery was evident even before the immersion. In one of the first days, unsure of her participation in a factory visit on account of a broken foot, Emilie adapted some materials and developed her own novel boot to allow her to meet the factory’s security requirements. In all visits, Diego was often the one to break the ice with his natural laughter, making the event a more informal and easy interaction. Once the discussions were already set, Toukam would ask daring questions to get a sense of what the speaker could not or did not want to mention. Meanwhile, Claudia would ask questions related to past events, helping us understand the factors that led to the current context. In our spare time, Anirudh would improve our environment with his perpetual happiness. Clearly, I cannot describe this group without praising Stephenson’s notable care about every group member. And finally, some people say that a certain Roberto would not only ask for precise figures and numbers, but also tends to use over and over again the phrase, ‘for example’.  In sum, our first week allowed us to set the basis of our group environment and ‘have a sense’ of how magic could be our community. Altogether, we formed the inspiring Marvelous Global Wonderland.