By Shahed Elhasia, BYTE
When I first heard about the Business &Culture program, I was very excited to join. What I was looking forward to most was being able to interact with people from the other side of the world. This type of class was a big change for me as it was my first time experiencing virtual exchange with such a diverse group of students.
As a business student, this course has opened my eyes to other perspectives that could benefit me in my life. I very much enjoyed the online connected sessions with all the institutions involved – U-M, AUC, AUB, and BYTE. The B&C program gave me the opportunity to communicate with different people than my own culture and it was a very eye-opening experience. I’m delighted that I had the opportunity to work with my multinational team on an international consulting project. I learned that teamwork doesn’t rely on where you come from.
My favorite part of the program was when me and my Libyan teammate were assigned to do the My Culture Presentation. During the presentation I played a short audio of a famous Libyan folk song, I was looking at all the faces that were in the meeting and there was nothing but smiles and nodding their heads along with the song. This made me very happy!
I will never forget this experience and I’m very happy that I got the chance to be involved in such a great journey. It was a pleasure to meet all the students and the lovely people that helped make this program happen.