As my college career is coming to an end, I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes an American University different from an American one.  

One of the biggest things is our football game culture.  Going to the University of Arizona, which is a big sports school, puts a huge emphasis on making football games an all day event.  For a game that starts at 7 pm, people begin tailgating as early as 11 am on our “Mall” (basically a huge patch of grass along the middle of campus).  People walk around and talk to other fans.  There’s a lot of food, beer, games, and team spirit.  It really brings your school together and the pride you have for your football team, even if they aren’t the best.  And that doesn’t happen at small schools or even around the World.  It’s a defining characteristic of an American school.

Besides that culture difference, there’s also the academic difference.  Now it’s no secret that the American education system is having a huge problem.  The cost of attending school is rising more than the rate of inflation (which is going to get worse as our economy feels the backlash of QE3).  But there are valuable things we emphasize here that other countries don’t.  

I spent a week at the University of Washington competing in a Global Business Case Competition.  There was us Eller students, UW Foster students, Concordia University of Canada, The University of Aukland, De La Salle in the Philippines, National Singapore University, American University Cairo, The University of Hong Kong, Tech de Monterrey Mexico, The University of Belgium Brussels, and The University of Navarra Pamplona.  

I had the unique opportunity of being on the Global Team which was myself, a student from UW, a student from NSU, and a student from the University of Koba Japan.  We had 48 hours to come up with a business case and present it to judges.  Now on our team us American students were focusing on being creative and thinking outside of the box, while our Asian team members were focusing on data and financials to back it up.  I’m not saying it’s bad, but it was nice to get a different perspective on solving this case.

Now my team didn’t make it to the final round, which is fine.  In the preliminary round we actually went against the winning team of the whole competition.  And watching the final round presentations was outstanding.  The Eller team also went to the final round, but their focus was more about being creative and confident. While the Canadian, Hong Kong, and Singapore team were not only creative but had the financials to back it up.  I saw over 100 backup slides all with financials and market analysis.  It was incredible and I’ve never seen anything like it.  

I thought I learned a lot from all my travelling, but it didn’t prepare me for this. I am fortunate enough to attend Eller and learn everything I have, but this just shows the importance of studying abroad.  Not only learning about different cultures, but from different experiences, different learning styles is important to survive and be successful in our rapidly evolving World.  

I haven’t had the time to write out my full Global Water Brigades Ghana experience yet, but there’s something I do need to write about.  Our drive to and from the community (around 1.5 hours one way) every day something caught my eye.  Not only the construction on the roads, but most importantly the construction was next to a school “supported by the Chinese government.”

For true country investment to work and for an developing economy to become an emerging one it must have the infrastructure and resources.  This could include: roads, electricity, water, education, and internet.  

From my previous blog post and other new resources we know that China is investing huge in Africa- I mean why not it’s the final frontier (it has over 50 countries!).  But in order for the economy to develop there has to be education- but why would someone want to teach there without accessible roads?  Or sell a product if the community doesn’t understand what it does.  

Seeing an actual Chinese school being built and a road really opened my eyes- this is happening.  China is full on investing in Africa, because this school I saw was very random. They have people on the ground and doing everything right from a business stand point.  Keep your eyes peeled on the news people. 

I just read this article on Bloomberg Business Week called: “For IBM, Africa is Risky and Rife with Opportunity.”  IBM has been spending massive amounts of R & D everywhere in Africa, but why?  And if they are a services and hardware company why water?  

Apparently they did this free water analysis on the sources of water (streams, tanks- which were broken, ponds, etc.) so that they could start building relationships with local government.  If the local government and organizations could trust IBM they would begin working with them more to incorporate IBM’s goods, services, and strategies.  

IBM not only began building these ties with the government, but now they were starting basic human infrastructure in the country.  With a sustainable amount of clean water, people are most likely not going to get sick (or die) from water borne illnesses, which accounts for over 40% of deaths in the developing World.  On an average children miss 18 days of school a year because they are sick due to the water they are drinking.  Additionally  girls miss school if they have to help their moms collect water which is usually 2 hours away, one- way.  It’s important for girls to be educated because they will one day be mothers, and make household related decisions in the family.  Without a proper education the vicious cycle of poverty continues.  Which is why water is so important not only for health reasons, but for basic economic productivity.  

Educated children will move toward cities to work and send money home to their families, but also start a new family in the city where education access will be easier and better.  Sustainable clean water starts everything on the triple bottom line of economic functions, and the primary way to begin human infrastructural development in these rural areas.  

This article might not have talked about it, but IBM did way more than creating relationships- they sparked the future of a potential new market.  

**And of course I dedicate everything I have learned from Global Water Brigades.  Building water systems does help business majors .  

I was sitting in class today discussing a Harvard Business School case study on the online crowdsourcing t-shirt design company, Threadless. Basically designers submit unique designs which the community of over 500,000 votes on based on a rated scale model.  After the voting period of a week the Threadless team picks the winning designs out of the top 100 to make into t- shirts, which they sell on their website.  From the case I saw that in 2006 they had “sky rocket growth” from the dramatic increase in t- shirts produced per unit.  They rely on the community of participants and designers to vote on their favorite designs, share with their friends, and enable a sense of trust in the Threadless team.

But the case objective was to see if the Threadless should go into a partnership with a “large retailer.”  This large retailer would have access to the collection of designs that Threadless receives and pick the ones they like to make into their own shirts, and market that in their stores.  Threadless would experience more revenue, a larger customer base, and a brick and mortar distribution site.  But doesn’t this take away from their whole business model “of having the community/ customers make decisions based on what they want?”  This would take away their loyal members’ sense of ownership and the uniqueness of Threadless products.

Which brings to me to the argument I had with my friends in class.  Some of my friends thought that they should go with the large retailer because they’ll make more money.  And a businesses main objective is profit.  BUT then I retaliated and said entrepreneurs start a business from a vision and passion, knowing that the either the money will come or they accomplished his/her dream.

We went back and forth for a while as our Professor watched us in amusement.  So here’s my conclusion: Although businesses main objective is to earn profit in the long run, in the short run it starts with a vision to create something out of nothing.  It’s with a strong passion to pursue this dream and overcome the obstacles of starting a new business.  It’s to solve a problem in the World, innovate, and make waves in whatever industry you go into.  Ask any entrepreneur why they started and they’ll tell you it’s cause they saw a gap and wanted to fix it.  They large corporations today started from nothing and have grown from there.  (On a side note this is the heart of the American dream and what our country was built on.) My belief is, if you are passionate about what you are doing and work hard enough then the money will come.

Please comment and let me know your thoughts!

**My assumptions and beliefs don’t come from nothing.  I read business, technology, social responsibility, and small business articles like a maniac.  I read the WSJ, The Economist, Bloomberg Business Week.  And I read books like Purpose & Passion  and The Start Up of You.  And of course what I learn from business courses.  So these are all educated assumptions

My classes this semester have been everything I’ve been waiting to learn about.  I feel like all my classes are coming together to form one big theme for me, but I don’t know what it is yet (I’m only 1 week in).  

My classes include: Consulting and Implementation, Technology Ethics, Macro Econ and Global Implications, Sustainable Cities, Law and Ethics, and a International Business course.  

I’ve seen that what I’m learning in my Tech and Ethics class, Macro Econ, Sustainability, Law, and International Business course all have to do with the intersection of: social business, technology, social responsibility.  Which is what I’m trying to achieve or contribute to in life.  

For example so far in in my Econ class we’ve learned about GDP from other countries and wealth, in my Sustainability class we talk about the different theories of Sustainability and why it’s important for planning for the future and the poor, in my Law class we learn about the “right and wrong” of business with frequent talks about offshoring, and my international business course which talks about the implications of doing business abroad especially for the people and cultures there.  In my Consulting and Implications course I can learn about all aspects of a engagement perse which I will start my career as and hopefully move that on to social entrepreneurship aspect and in my Tech Ethics course I’m going to focus my blog on how tech startups are changing the World for everyone. 

It’s really exciting for me to get everything I’m so passionate about in my last semester of college. I haven’t really developed how everything connects yet but I think I will find that moment soon thanks to these classes, fingers crossed! 

First of all, I’m horrible with names.  When I meet someone I shake their hand and say “Hi, I’m Camille.”  Usually that person will repeat their name back to me and the rest of the night I’m like what’s his/her name again! 

This Fall 2012 semester I decided to actually pay attention to names and the results have actually really changed my life.  Instead of putting peoples names to the back of my head, I took a conscious effort of remembering especially during College Recruiting Season.  Remembering a recruiter’s name and him/her remembering your name speaks volumes about your personality to him/her but also to me.  When recruiters remembered my name from previous encounters (e.g. an information session meet and great before the interview process) it really made me feel like they cared about me.  I didn’t feel like another anxious college student waiting for attention or to be recognized, because they still remembered me.  Or even better- when people said they heard about me from their colleagues and wanted to talk more.  It’s one of the primary reasons I chose to work for the company I’m going to work for after college .  

I had Managing Directors and Directors (essentially Partners within the firm), remember me or say they heard a lot about me.  They asked my interest and why the LA office, or how my experience has been.  It truly made all the difference in making my decision.

I guess to add to that, since in previous blog posts I’ve been worried about what my chances were of getting a job before graduating- Well I did it!  I have decided to work for a global consulting and internal audit firm (sorry I’m keeping the company name private) as a Technology Risk Consultant starting Fall 2013.  

And my big decision of which office?  Los Angeles.  Now LA isn’t my favorite city but it’s about 30 min to an hour away from Orange County- and staying near my family was very important.  (Why? Because I realized in Europe that I lived in the best place in the World).  I’m also hoping that a good amount of my assignment will be outside of LA- which is likely, so I think I can get the travel and home aspect that I want.  

In the meantime I’ve really tried hard to remember names, and I’ve done that with my Global Water Brigade meetings, people are actually quite impressed.  Because I want people to a part of our group, just as I did with the company.  

On the heels of the most important month of my life, I get on a idea rampage on a lovely self drawn flow chart.   I am a HUGE techie and will do anything I can online or on a computer, but there’s nothing like brainstorming on a piece of paper.  OR a digital whiteboard.  I’ll put up a picture when I get the chart written nicely, instead of my doodles on a post it. 

Why you should Align business strategy with Technology:

Data > Mine for Information > Understand Business Better > Create Value > Competitive Advantage > Sustainable? > Adapting to New Technologies.  

With all the data in the World people are starting to mine it in order to make those raw words into usable information.  When people understand those metrics, you can better understand business better because in a sense you realize the opportunities and threats (SWOT) within your corporation.  If one can capitalize on OT you create more value for whatever your offering is (manufacturing or service).  When you create more value, you create competitive advantage! But how do you make that competitive advantage sustainable? By always staying on top of and adapting to technology changes!  An organizations strategy will always be competing if you adapt to market changes and do it faster and/or better than your competitor.  It is a business process that I think any organization, whether you are a for- profit or a non- profit, should include in their strategy.  Technology isn’t going away people, it’s only going to get more complex or easier, whichever way you want to look at it.

How?

For innovators the creation of new technologies will be come more difficult to develop because to create better products, the code isn’t going to get simpler.  BUT for customers it will get easier.   Going from searching the internet to a variety apps that give you exactly what you want is what I mean by easier.  UI developers are bringing psychology and user behaviors into play to incept products that are easier on the eyes and your fingers.  

So why did I say not Today, but Right Now? Because what you do today is late.  Right now means you are constantly using this thought process, every second.  Because let’s be honest there’s no time to waste. 

History 

Living in Spain for about 2 months has been really interesting so far, especially with the current economic times.   Everyone has their eyes on Spain to see what they are going to do to balance their economy.  Spain is an important part of the EU that if they fail then everyone else does.

It’s been one of the primary topics of my Contemporary Spanish history (since the end of the regime in 1976).  My professor for this course is a British man who moved to Barcelona 13 years ago to learn the language.  He was surprised by how much we knew about other countries history.  I asked him if in Britain they learn World History in middle school or high school? And he told me no!  I was so surprised since I have been taking World History and all types of history courses since at least middle school.

I feel that it’s important for at least everyone to take one World History course before college.  You learn so much about the world and how every country has connections.

Respect

Taking courses in Barcelona with students from different American universities has made me very thankful for my business program at Arizona.  Some students have been quite disrespectful to the teacher which is something I am not used to in a course.  Some were taking an upper division 300 level International Business course, but had never taken a business class before.

It’s been really interesting to see how students are from other schools, all come together in one classroom.  It makes me extremely thankful to be in a great business program where we learn a lot and respect our professors.

I think it’s safe to say I’ve been to many countries for just turning 21.  Almost every summer I have traveled outside of the US (last year the Philippines and China, this year Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal).  Thankfully I have a great support system in my parents and grandparents who want me to see and learn as much about the world.  I grew up in a very “cultured” family.  Although I was born in CA and that is where my family still lives; I grew up with my grandparents in the Philippines but frequently travled back and forth until I was 4 years old to start school.  My parents always kept my brothers and I grounded to our roots, but also embraced the “American” way.

Having both influences in my life has given me a better understanding about people- and the differences in each person’s upbringing.  Not many people understand that although the Philippines is a developing country, it is still developed in many ways.  Also, not people know that Western Europe may be beautiful and popular tourist attractions, but their economy is struggling because they don’t know how to innovate.  These are things that I pick up from living in different places and talking to different people.

Since my 4 days of traveling (only in Bratvia Geramy and Florence Italy so far) I have made 2 realizations that I would like in my life.

1. A man that has the energy and enthusiasm I do.  Who can wander around a city, eat all types of food, listen to different people, and read information about things with me all day long.  Or who can enjoy the nice scenery.  Someone who can enjoy the sights but also have a couple drinks with locals until the conversation runs out, which hopefully is never.  This means he must have energy and a passion for life that could compliment mine.

I realized this when traveling with people who have never traveled that much, their tiredness and aches get in the way of enjoying the beauty of a city while you can.  Not only the edifices but the people! You can sleep when you get home.

2.  I wish my children will have the same understanding about different cultures like I do, except surpass it.  I want them to know that just because one country is poor, doesn’t mean they don’t have the resources to be successful.  I want them to eat all types of exotic food and not think languages are “weird” or all the same.  I hope they know that there is more to life than the American way and embrace their history, and the history of the world.