My name is Taylor Richard and I attend Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I am a sophomore information technology major and I attended the Winter One program. I decided on International Business Seminars because I’ve always wanted to study abroad but never for a whole semester and this program gave me an opportunity to study abroad for a short period of time. This was my first time traveling abroad and it was the best experience of my life. Instead of being stuck learning in a classroom, you actually get to go to these beautiful cities and learn about how major businesses operate on site. I plan on graduating in May 2020 and then applying for graduate school and getting my masters in data analytics. I hope to travel abroad more and explore the rest of the world. Word of advice, If you want to have a life-changing experience then, International Business Seminars is the program for you!
Hear more directly from Taylor:
Being able to travel to multiple cities and countries, what travel advice do you have for future students?
The first advice I can give is that you should always be open to expanding your mind with learning about the city/country before going to it. The next advice I want to give you is to pack light because for my trip, for example, we hopped around city to city very quickly so it’s best to pack as light as you can. The last piece of advice is to pre-order your money conversions before going. Makes it a whole lot easier than trying to convert it in the specific country.
What company did you enjoy learning from the most and why?
The one company I enjoyed learning about from the most was the Hard-Rock Café for many reasons. Firstly, I had no idea how vast of a portfolio that the Hard Rock Café has. They have merchandising all the way up to concerts. Another reason was being able to learn how important their operations are in many of their locations around the world. Many locations around the world are located in countries where it is hard to sell their food because people think it’s just a tourist restaurant. The last reason is from learning that the merchandise part of the business makes up for almost 70 percent of their business.
If you had 60 seconds to convince a friend to attend an IBS program, what would you say?
I would say go for it! For most people, it may be the one and only chance they get to study abroad and visit some of the most beautiful places in the world. The different assigned meetings during the program were very interesting and eye-opening. I met people that I will be friends with forever.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at: trich58@lsu.edu