International Travel and GEMS
As any other millennial, I love to travel and traveling was a huge aspect of the MBA experience I was looking forward to. While researching the MBA experience before applying, if you told me all MBA students do is travel I would have believed you. But, when Core started I was knee-deep in work and any traveling opportunities seemed like a thought of the past.
During one of our Corner Stone meetings I was reminded that we had the chance to travel to either South Korea, Russia, or Brazil as part of Global Experiential Modules (GEMS). I hadn’t been to any of the three countries and would have loved to go to any of the options, but I closed my eyes and decided to go to Brazil; that weather in February seemed like a no-brainer.
Brazil was such a beautiful experience. We got to go to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and a few cities in-between. There were so many breath-taking moments during the trip. I learned so much about the people and their way of life, got to visit large companies such as Cummins and P&G, and I even got a chance to go to the Favelas.
All that was nice, but if I am being honest the best part of the trip was traveling with my fellow classmates. We grew so much closer over the trip. We got to take our mind off classwork and just enjoy and embrace ourselves in new opportunities. One day we randomly decided to go to the last day of Carnival. If you have been to Carnival in any country you can imagine how that experience was in Brazil. It even rained while we were at Carnival, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell with how lively we and the Brazilian people were.
Our time in Brazil lasted about two weeks. Afterwards was spring break and we had a trip to Peru planned where we visited Lima and Cusco. Machu Picchu was amazing. It took us a while to travel and get up there through the trains and busses, but it was definitely worth it.
Traveling and GEMS are a big part of the MBA and Goizueta Business School experience. GEMS usually takes place after winter break and they provide a great opportunity to explore the world and learn about other cultures. GEMS is led by a professor and leading up to the trip there are sessions you partake in so you travel to the country with some common knowledge about the country and people. If you get the chance, I would highly recommend that you engage in the GEMS experience!
