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Nicole LeBlanc

Maraam Hijaz
I am Nicole LeBlanc and I am currently a senior at LSU studying Business Management with a concentration in Human Resources with a minor in Human Resources Leadership and Development. I plan on graduating in May of 2020 and hope to go into corporate recruiting. I recently got the opportunity to attend the 2019 Summer Europe Seminar and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made! I chose to become an Alumni Ambassador for IBS because this experience taught me so much personally and professionally. I believe it is important to spread the word of this amazing opportunity so that other students can gain their own learning experiences. I could spend days talking about what I did in Europe, so I might as well talk about it to people who want to hear about it!

Hear more directly from Nicole:

Why did you choose your IBS seminar vs any other study abroad program?

The reason I chose IBS over the other study abroad options was because of the style of this program. I’ve never traveled overseas before this and the thought of going for an entire semester terrified me. Other programs only allowed you to go to one city and study in a classroom for long periods of time. What I liked about the prospect of IBS was traveling to so many different places in a shorter amount of time and the hands-on learning that gives you the opportunity to get out from behind a desk.

If you had 60 seconds to convince a friend to attend an IBS program, what would you say?

If I had 60 seconds to convince a friend to attend an IBS program, I would tell them about the balance between the business meetings and free time. I was very worried beforehand that I wouldn’t be able to see everything I wanted but you don’t realize the amount of free time you have to site see and immerse yourself in the different cultures. In every city, we had at least a full day to ourselves, if not more. Plus, IBS provides local transportation options throughout the cities so that it is easy to get around, especially in the larger cities like Paris and London.

What did you learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

What I learned from my experience abroad is how culture affects a business’ practices. The typical American business culture is to earn as much money as possible. European culture is much different in that they are concerned about environmental conservation and many people are not concerned with advancement in their career or making more money. The European culture is to take things slow and to be content with what you have, and this is reflected in their workplaces. I hope that learning the differences in culture will help me in my future career if I have to conduct business with people from other countries where I might need a deeper understanding of their culture.

If you have any questions email me at: nlebl38@lsu.edu