Global Technical Workforce
Pre-Approved Experience
January - May, 2017
In the spring of my third year at UC, I took a course titled Global Technical Workforce, taught by Professor Eugene Rutz. The class was focused on developing engineers' sense of culture and diversity and learning to use the difference between people to better the company. We focused our learning on four main topics of communication, culture, global teams, and workplace effectiveness. We were able to reflect on our own experiences from past co-ops to relate to the in-class discussions and learn from what we've seen done well and what we've seen done poorly. Throughout the semester, guest speakers who were engineers or educators and not originally native to America were brought in to have discussions with the class about culture and worldly differences in engineering and business.
This class also included a study-abroad component and consisted of three groups of students who would go to either France, Germany, or Guatemala at the end of the term. I had the opportunity to go to France. While there, our group traveled to four different cities: Nancy, Bordeaux, St. Emilion, and Paris. While in these cities, we split our time between university and industry visit and cultural experiences and sight-seeing. We had many opportunities to interact and speak with locals to learn about the similarities and differences between engineering and industry. We especially go to spend a lot of time with French engineering students, which was a wonderful environment to learn about culture differences and engage with people from another culture and realize they're not very different from ourselves!
This was my first time abroad and an unforgettable experience. I will always treasure the memories of the 10 days we spent in France. Not only was the country overwhelmingly beautiful and seemed to touch my soul but the learning experience was unique as well. It was completely immersive, terrifying, and amazing all at once. Once we landed in Paris, there was no "escape" from the culture and language. There was no longer a safety blanket. We were immediately enveloped in the country, the people, and the language, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. This class and this trip together gave my skills I could have never adopted otherwise. I learned how to function in a foreign city, how to navigate the city without a GPS, and how to communicate despite a language barrier. The experience gave developed my world knowledge and my confidence in so many ways, and I'm forever grateful to have had this opportunity!
This class also included a study-abroad component and consisted of three groups of students who would go to either France, Germany, or Guatemala at the end of the term. I had the opportunity to go to France. While there, our group traveled to four different cities: Nancy, Bordeaux, St. Emilion, and Paris. While in these cities, we split our time between university and industry visit and cultural experiences and sight-seeing. We had many opportunities to interact and speak with locals to learn about the similarities and differences between engineering and industry. We especially go to spend a lot of time with French engineering students, which was a wonderful environment to learn about culture differences and engage with people from another culture and realize they're not very different from ourselves!
This was my first time abroad and an unforgettable experience. I will always treasure the memories of the 10 days we spent in France. Not only was the country overwhelmingly beautiful and seemed to touch my soul but the learning experience was unique as well. It was completely immersive, terrifying, and amazing all at once. Once we landed in Paris, there was no "escape" from the culture and language. There was no longer a safety blanket. We were immediately enveloped in the country, the people, and the language, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. This class and this trip together gave my skills I could have never adopted otherwise. I learned how to function in a foreign city, how to navigate the city without a GPS, and how to communicate despite a language barrier. The experience gave developed my world knowledge and my confidence in so many ways, and I'm forever grateful to have had this opportunity!
Technical Experiences |
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