Lessons Learned Abroad Still Ring True for Grads
Friday, October 25, 2019
Alex Windjue
When Alex Windjue was initially browsing universities, he was having a difficult time deciding where to spend his next four years.
But as he looked closer at the University of Minnesota and the Carlson School, he found one major difference that really stood out: the International Experience. As someone who wanted to study abroad in college, Windjue found the Carlson School to be the perfect fit.
Windjue’s first year on campus was in 2008, right after the International Experience was built into the curriculum. His turn came in his junior year, when he studied in Vienna. Throughout his time abroad, Windjue says his experience was everything he had hoped it would be.
As he looks back, what stands out most to him are the friendships he formed with several of his classmates who now live throughout the world. One friend from Norway took his first-ever trip to the United States to visit Windjue. Another, a University of Texas student he met in Austria, is to be a groomsman in Windjue’s upcoming wedding. The relationships Windjue forged nearly a decade ago remain strong.
Time abroad also allowed him to learn a lot about himself. One of the biggest personal growth moments Windjue has taken away was to be more flexible, both in everyday life and at work.
“No matter if it’s a project at work or last-minute travel for something, it’s always important to stay flexible,” he says. “Things in your life will change all the time and you’ll never be 100 percent comfortable with what you’re doing. You have to always be willing to roll with it.”
No matter if it’s a project at work or last-minute travel for something, it’s always important to stay flexible. Things in your life will change all the time and you’ll never be 100 percent comfortable with what you’re doing. You have to always be willing to roll with it.
Annette Betting-Fuentes
Alum's Experience Abroad Inspires New Business
Annette Betting-Fuentes’ International Experience inspired her in ways that are still impacting her today. Betting-Fuentes was part of the first Carlson School group that went abroad to Cuba in 2016 following the United States’ reopening of relations with the island nation. She and 26 other undergraduate students spent 10 days in Cuba exploring how entrepreneurs overcome immense challenges to cultivate their own businesses. The group was accompanied by Senior Lecturer Steve Spruth and, for part of the journey, Dean Sri Zaheer.
While there, the group visited small businesses launched by enterprising citizens and learned about the Cuban culture through the eyes of those people. The students saw homes that residents repurposed into restaurants, hotels, taxi companies, upstart tourism providers, and more, all with an eye toward just how different both business and culture in Cuba was from the United States.
“The Cuba trip created an opportunity for me to visit a place that people don’t often get to visit and see it through the lens of entrepreneurship,” she says.
Now, Betting-Fuentes wants to open the eyes of others and give them meaningful and powerful opportunities to go abroad. To do this, she is starting her own travel business where, similar to the international programs offered by CGI, people can travel abroad to learn more about themselves and other cultures. The first trip planned is to Mexico for Day of the Dead.
“I want to create an experience similar to the one I had in Cuba for other people,” she says. “I want people to get an experience where they get to meet and work with local people and not just do the touristy things, but have a trip that has meaning.”
The Cuba trip created an opportunity for me to visit a place that people don’t often get to visit and see it through the lens of entrepreneurship.