SANTIAGO, Chile — It’s official. We have finally reached our halfway point and are on the tail end of our trip with the spring 2019 Global Entrepreneurship Program to South America. Even though we have only been here for two months, I think I can speak for all of us when I say Chile now feels like home and we’re not ready to think about it coming to an end quite yet. We’re now settled into our internships, have developed close relationships with the other international students living at our apartment complex and have gotten into a good routine with our classes. Here is a recap of what we’ve been up to so far.
When we first arrived in Chile near the beginning of January, we made our way to the southernmost part of the Patagonia region. We spent a week exploring the historic town of Punta Arenas, admiring the picturesque views in Torres del Paine and visiting the penguins on Magdalena Island. This is where we were first introduced to Chilean culture and to the rest of the group that we would be spending the next few months with. After getting to know one another and bonding in Punta Arenas, it was time to fly back to Santiago and get to work.
Santiago is our home base here in Chile. It is where we live, work and study — and we couldn’t think of a better place to be. Since being here we’ve had the chance to visit multiple companies such as IBM, Corfo and Costanera, where we were able to learn more intricate details about their companies and process. We have finished three out of the five entrepreneurship classes we are enrolled in and have matured in our internships. During the weekdays we all stay really focused on our internships and studying, but we have been good about finding balance and allowing time for fun in the evenings and over the weekends such as group dinners, frequenting the beach and exploring the nightlife of Santiago.
We live in an international student housing complex located in the heart of Santiago. It has been a pleasure getting to know the other residents here who come from all over the world and having the opportunity to learn from so many different cultures. The diversity that we encounter is like none other and has made each of us become so much more culturally aware. We really enjoy living here and touring the country with our new friends.
Overall, it has been an unforgettable experience thus far, and we’re each still starving for more. The classes we have taken, the networking we’ve done and all of the places we have visited have been unreal. We’re looking forward to future plans the Global Entrepreneurship Program has in store for us and are so excited that we still have plenty of time to soak in all the great things that Chile has to offer.
Learn more about the Global Entrepreneurship Program here: eccles.utah.edu/global-entp. The program is provided by the David Eccles School of Business and the Department of Entrepreneurship & Strategy, in partnership with the Eccles Global Program.
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