Olá Brazil! Eller MBA Visits Sao Paolo and Rio De Janeiro

With the 39 other members of his cohort, Tim Cawthorne, a first-year Full-time MBA and MS in Marketing dual-degree candidate, flew into Brazil, just two days after taking his fall semester finals. Although exhausted from his demanding schedule of MBA core classes, the Global Business Experience trip for BNAD596, was the perfect way to start winter break.

Tim, a two-time Wildcat, graduated from Eller as a marketing undergrad, but never had the chance to travel abroad. The opportunity to spend seven days in Brazil with his cohort, sight-seeing, visiting local companies, and learning more about global business, was a big draw for him when it came time to choose a business school.

“The fact that an international trip was a mandatory part of the first-year MBA curriculum really emphasized the sense of community I remembered about Eller as an undergrad. And our destination was Brazil? Hands down, no brainer.” 

The Class of 2016 had a packed schedule for their short, week-long trip: with eight company visits ranging from Banco Central do Brasil to the Grupo Petropolis brewery, as well as city tours in both Sao Paolo and Rio, they still found time for Brazilian steak, a few caipirinhas, and volleyball on the beach.

While the whole experience was memorable, one of Tim’s favorite parts was the “Young Professionals Panel” session.   As someone who’s thought about pursuing marketing consulting as a career, Tim was especially interested in hearing from a young professional from Phoenix who was working for KPMG, Sao Paolo.

“This guy painted a picture of what life could be like for me, if I decided to do consulting abroad. It was definitely a different perspective of expat[riate] life that we might never hear about during a normal company visit.”

Besides fueling his desire for a possible overseas internship, the Global Business Experience was truly eye-opening. Beyond the confines of the classroom, Tim was exposed to international management in a wide array of industries, as well as the boundless Brazilian culture. To continue where the trip left off, Tim will take MKTG 560:International Marketing as one of his Spring electives, in order to fully gain a better understanding of globalization.

“I’m really excited to see how market trends in business relate back to what I saw in Brazil. Since the trip ended I’ve been thinking more globally, especially when it comes to what that means for my future career.”