Marshall Women's Leadership Board

This summer I traveled to Europe for the first time to participate in a study abroad/summer internship program through the International Relations Department of USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. The program was based in Brussels, Belgium and focused on the function of the European Union within Europe and globally. I went into the program knowing little to nothing about the EU but excited all the same to learn.

I learned a lot of useful information about the EU throughout the 4-week university course I took. I learned even more about EU officials during my 5-week internship at an event planning think tank that organized conferences and panels for high EU officials discussed current events and hot topics in Europe. But my most fun and meaningful experiences came from the traveling I did during the weekends. 

The first weekend I spent Saturday exploring Brussels and getting to know the city I would call home for 5 weeks. The next day I took a three-hour bus ride to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam exceeded my expectations; the canals were magical, the architecture was amazing, and the museum Rijksmuseum offered some of the most famous paintings in the world.  It was an amazing first weekend trip.

I spent my entire second weekend in Cologne, Germany. This was not a smooth trip because I had some tickets issues with the train we took. While it was a stressful experience, I learned to cope with sudden crisis situations and still enjoy my trip regardless. Out of everywhere I traveled in Europe, Germany by far had my favorite food. I know for a fact that I will travel back to Germany just to eat another plate of sausage, potatoes and sauerkraut.

My third weekend was spent in one of the most magical cities in the world: Paris. It had always been a dream of mine to travel to Paris and I spent most of the weekend walking around the city in awe. In short, the food was exquisite, the architecture was amazing, and the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe exceeded all my expectations.

My final weekend was spent exploring more of Brussels and then taking a day trip to Brugge, Belgium. Brugge was an idyllic town in northern Belgium with quintessential European architecture, beautiful canals, and fun shops to explore. It was a great last weekend to spend in Belgium. After my program ended in Brussels, I traveled to London, England and spent one week exploring the city with my Aunt and cousin. London was a vibrant city full of history and prestige. 

Visiting Europe this summer definitely gave me the travel bug! Since I am now in my senior year of college, I plan to put my International Relations degree to good use and find a job that involves traveling to new places and working with different cultures.

I spent this past spring in Washington, D.C. through USC's Semester in Washington Program.  D.C. is one of my favorite cities! The city is majestic and buzzes with political activity. 

  My internship with the Office of International Affairs in the Department of Justice was definitely the highlight of the semester. The jurisdiction of this office was large. All communication regarding criminal matters between the U.S. and the rest of the world first went to this office. Since I was selected for the South America team, I often communicated with and facilitated communication between South American justice departments, legal attaches, and U.S. law enforcement agencies. While working for the OIA I realized that I truly enjoyed the bilingual aspect to my job and appreciated that the work I performed yielded tangible results.

  After my semester in D.C., I headed back to Vermont for the summer. I served as the Economic Development Intern in the Mayor’s office of Burlington, VT. My main responsibility for the Economic Development team was progressing the Public Investment Action Plan, which will channel $5 million into the Waterfront Tax-Increment Financing district and $10 million into the Downtown Tax-Increment Financing District. The purpose of PIAP is to encourage future economic development in these two districts.  I was able to work with city experts, research regulations and public trust laws, and examine whether the project proposals for each district would be eligible, doable, and successful.

  I also served on the founding team of Emerge Vermont. Emerge Vermont is a newly formed political organization that recruits, prepares and mentors Democratic women to serve in elected and appointed office. Emerge Vermont, like its national affiliate Emerge America, is committed to helping women become effective and ethical political leaders at the local, state and national levels. I found this experience invaluable and really fun! I was able to work with incredible and impressive women leaders from around the state all summer and helped establish an organization that I believe is incredibly important.

  It was a productive, political and fun year! In Washington, D.C. and in Vermont I was able to meet powerful professional women in politics. I spoke with them about their careers, the steps they have taken, the choices they've made, and what skills helped them to get where they are today. I observed them in the U.S. Capitol and in Vermont. In each place, they were decision makers. I met a former governor, a spokeswoman, press secretaries, chiefs of staff, state representatives, campaign managers, and former mayors. These women spoke articulately about important and relevant issues. They had a vision for the future of female leaders in government. They were utterly confident in their ability to lead and supported each other. Women helping other women went without saying. Speaking with these women renewed my passion for government and public service, and also inspired me to be like them: a fearless, dynamic, and lively female leader in government.  

  #MWLBlove Caro

Have you ever been invited to a conference? Or one has come across your radar and it sounds interesting? Sign up! 

But now what? How can you maximize this experience? 

First of all--the morning you wake up, you must have this mindset: GAME TIME. 

Before the morning of the conference, you should have prepared all of this: 

1) Resumes. (cater them to the conference purpose or industry, if this is applicable). Put them in a folder and bring them to the conference. 

2) Elevator pitch. You're going to be saying this A LOT at the conference. 

3) Business cards. Have a lot in your purse, wallet, or folder. Put them in a cute case that's easy to hold and access so you can whip one out on cue :) 

4) An awesome outfit: Look good! Looking good will add to your confidence when meeting all of these new people. 

5) A list of people you want to speak with: When you arrive at the conference, and even before the morning of the conference, see if you can find a list of attendees, whether they are companies or specific names. If the list is available ahead of time, research some of the names and companies. If you get the list of attendees when you arrive, look over the whole list and circle who you would like to meet. Make a list of people you circled. 

6) Know what workshops you want to attend: Look over the workshops ahead of time. Know which workshops you would like to attend. You can base your decision on who will be speaking or hosting the workshop, who will be attending the workshop, or if the subject is genuinely interesting to you. 

During the conference, you should: 

7) Take notes in the workshops! You want to be able to ask questions and discuss the workshop with the speakers and attendees. In addition, it's always good to be able to talk about any conferences and workshops you attended in interviews and during future networking opportunities. 

8) Introduce yourself to the speakers! If the speakers were dynamic and/or if they were on your list, wait to introduce yourself and speak with them after the workshop! Even if there is a line of people--wait to introduce yourself. Have your business card and elevator pitch ready. Ask to set up a phone call or in-person meeting. Get their business card and tell them that you'll follow-up via with them evening. 

9) Maximize every opportunity: Go up and talk to as many people as possible. Find out more about them. Tell them about yourself. If you let them know what you're interested in, chances are that they might know someone for you to speak to or could even introduce you to someone at the conference. 

Now that the conference is over, what do you do? 

10) Follow-up: When you get home, send follow-up emails. Write out all of the details you can think of on the back of the business cards you got that day. Attach your resume to the emails. Set up times to meet with your new contacts while your introduction is still fresh in their minds.

Lastly, even if you're nervous, or awed by powerful people, just go for it! People are excited to meet driven, energetic, and poised young women. Many professionals go to conferences frequently, so your attendance is inevitably refreshing! 

The One Month Mark

Wow, it’s hard to believe, but I have already spent an entire month abroad. The weeks flew by right before my eyes, and before I fully grasped that I’ve been living independently in freaking SHANGHAI, July crept on me.

Now that the second half of my internship has started, I’m scrambling--scrambling because there’s still so much more I want to do, and see, and just experience. The other day my dad told me something that I’ve been recalling a lot lately: “Nothing is more valuable than good life experiences and the memories that can never be taken away from you. Even bad experiences will turn into good memories in the future.”

And if you take a second to think about it, he’s so right. I really couldn’t have put it in better words myself. When you are living in a different country, you are exposed to hundreds of new things every day. You can’t help but be curious and full of wonder because other people around you live so differently. You want to know how they eat their breakfast in the morning, how they celebrate birthdays and holidays, how they spend time with their loved ones. Even when you’re just walking outside on the street, you feel like you’re being productive because you’re learning and observing. 

Needless to say, I’m so ready to take on the world and study abroad sometime in the next few years.

I firmly think that at some point in life, everyone needs to go somewhere far away from home, far away from their comfort zones. You really see the world from such a humble perspective because you’re no longer the one in your element. YOU have to adjust and adapt and accept. And in the process, you learn so much about other people and yourself. China might be a little too close to comfort for me because I am an ABC after all, but it’s a great stepping stone for future experiences on the global scale.

-Alina Tang

Read more about Alina's amazing summer adventures in Shaghai at:

Jell-O, Crystal Light, Velveeta, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Maxwell House, Grey Poupon, Mac ‘n’ Cheese... At first glance these iconic brands may seem like they don’t have much in common. But in fact all of these products make up just a small portion of the diverse portfolio belonging to a company called Kraft Foods. 

For eleven weeks this summer I had the amazing opportunity to intern with Kraft Foods to see what it’s really like working at one of North America’s largest food and beverage companies. I supported the Cheese Division on the Safeway customer business team, performing many of the tasks of a real-life sales analyst. Some of my responsibilities included building and maintaining promotional events, pulling and analyzing the most up-to-date divisional sales data, and serving as the division liaison to the retail team in the field. However, in order to complete these tasks successfully I had to first learn about Kraft and the role they play within their industry.

 The best way I can describe this learning process is by comparing it to the act of drinking out of fire hose. Everyday I was being exposed to and taught so much new material. While I knew it wasn’t possible for me to retain everything in such a short period of time, I was determined to take in as much I could. Each time I heard a new word that I didn’t understand, I wrote it down and would later ask someone in the office to explain it to me. During my first weeks when I sat in on meetings and listened to the general conversations in the office, I often asked myself if my colleagues were even speaking English. Yet it didn’t take long for me to start speaking this pseudo foreign language myself, tossing around these once alien terms like I’ve been using them my whole life. 

My internship culminated with a final presentation analyzing Philadelphia Cream Cheese sales during the holiday season that I delivered to the rest of my division. It was very rewarding getting the opportunity to be in the spotlight in a room full of executives and share with them all of my hard work and insights. This new level of confidence that my final presentation experience revealed has already made its way into my college classrooms and lecture halls. In particular, I am excited to see how this confidence is going to materialize in my business communication class (which is nearly 100% presentation based).

I have done my best to provide a glimpse into my summer with Kraft, but in reality words truly cannot explain how remarkable this experience was. This internship was everything I had hoped for and so much more, and I am grateful to have had this chance to be apart of the Kraft family. 

Long gone are those days of endless hot summers, running around the neighborhood with fudgesicle stained lips until Mom and Dad call you home. Recent summers have left me feeling a bit nostalgic for those endless adventures through the Amazon--aka the backyard--and colorful balls lost to the towering trees above or the grumpy neighbor.  Summer jobs and internships consume forty hours of your week or perhaps you are stuck in school mode at summer school.  While these commitments can seem like hinderances to reliving the glories of your childhood summers, these obligations have encouraged me to take advantage of the valuable free time I have.  So, at the beginning of summer, I made a bucket list of all the different goals and activities--some professional, but mostly personal--that I wanted to complete or experience. Here is a glimpse into my personal summer diary of sorts: 

Successfully Checked off the Sumer 2013 Bucket List:

Learned How to Slolem Ski

Complete a Pinterest Art Project...or 10...

Go Skinny Dipping

Watch the sunrise at the lake

Jump off a bridge into the lake

Research future career possibilities

Host and cook a family dinner 

A few that have now translated over to my Fall 2013 Bucket List:

Read The Kite Runner

Go on a Picnic

Research future career possibilities

And a few that will just have to wait until next Summer:

learn how to park the boat

teach a clay class

road trip with the cousins to Canada 

Tips for future summer bucket lists...

Make it colorful.  Make it personal.  Make it challenging.  Make it yours!  

Now, I want to hear about your summers! :)

Our Co-President Sydney Stockus' latest OpEd on Senator Wendy Davis' Pink Sneakers and how they mean much more than late-term abortion

 While summer blockbusters Star Trek: Into Darkness, Man of Steel, and Pacific Rim all made it to the big screen, I had a chance to go behind the scenes of filmmaking by writing and co-producing a short film and interning at ImageMovers Digital, the production company of Robert Zemeckis (director of the Back to the Future series, Forrest Gump, etc.).

Both proved to be extremely rewarding and really helped me learn more about the film industry and the craft in general. As a development intern at ImageMovers, I got to read various creative materials in development or available for production, and write coverage detailing my thoughts on the script or novel’s quality and producibility. Not only that, but interns were encouraged to talk to the executives and share our thoughts about different projects. The entire experience was absolutely surreal — from driving onto the Universal Studios lot each day and watching people pass by on the Backlot Tour trams to meeting Zemeckis himself and having him sign my Hoverboard phone case (crossing my fingers that the real deal is out by 2015!).

Simultaneously, I also had the opportunity to make good use of the whole Business- major-Screenwriting-minor shtick by writing and co-producing a short film titled Z-MOVIE. Presented by Delta Kappa Alpha (the cinema fraternity at USC), Z-MOVIE is an action-packed ZomCom that follows four zombies as they try to evade ruthless hunters and find the elusive cure to become human again. Taking inspiration from works such as Warm Bodies and the musical Wicked, I wanted to explore the zombie genre from a new perspective — one that identified with the zombies and their own struggle for survival. It was a very long (and sometimes stressful) process that involved fundraising over $10,000, scouting locations, and executing intense special effects — all of which helped to reinforce the idea that filmmaking is the ultimate collaborative art form.

These experiences have really shown me how lucky I am to be in Los Angeles and all the great opportunities that are out there. Whether you’re interning or doing your own projects with friends, there are so many ways to make summer vacation fun and productive. I am so incredibly grateful for getting this taste of Hollywood, and I can’t wait to get some more. 

-Sydney Bernardo

As we boarded the airplane for a daunting 21 hour flight home from Mumbai, my professor suggested that we reflect upon three questions. With a 21 hour flight ahead of me, I had more than enough time to fill my leather travel journal with my colorful Indian experiences.

1) What insights did you gain about India-or what surprised you most about India?

    I was most amazed by the amalgamation of colors, scents, sounds, and tastes that are India. I will never be able to fully describe the wet heaviness of the humidity that I felt everyday as I walked out the hotel doors. When I got back to USC, my clothes and suitcase still smelled like Mumbai—a scent that I cannot even begin to describe yet I will never forget. One sight in particular that I will never forget is seeing the purple trains packed with Indian people hanging out the open doors speed down the tracks.

    Reflecting upon my experience, it is evident that Mumbai is a city of contrasts. I have never been exposed to so much poverty nor so much wealth in my life. Driving past slums located just blocks from Mukesh Ambani’s opulent 55 story home was so mind boggling. The city is developed in some senses, yet still very primitive in others. Sleek skyscrapers tower over incomplete construction sites and homes made out of garbage. Jaguars are parked next to rusty bicycles. The distinct smells of McDonald’s and authentic Indian street food intermingle in the packed street that separates them. The people meander around slowly yet drive quickly (if they aren’t stuck in Mumbai traffic that is). These stark, colorful contrasts are India.

2) What insight did you gain about global business or business in general?

    After visiting several firms, I learned the importance of truly knowing the people you are working with—how they think and act and how their purchasing trends align with their culture, demographic, and religion. For instance, it is amazing how something as simple as the size of the product can hurt sales regardless of how great the product it. I learned that Indians prefer smaller packaged goods such as travel sized shampoos and conditioners. I do not think Costco would be as successful in India as is it in the U.S. due to its enormous family-sized packaging. It is exciting to think about the rising number of consumers in India because it is such a young country. I feel fortunate to have gone to India during this time of advancement and anxious anticipation for the years to come. Indian businesses possess this positive energy of excitement for the future and remind me of scientists on the brink of a new discovery. This enthusiasm for the future is widespread from the MISB Bicconi students to those in upper management positions at affluent companies. This excitement is contagious—even I am now excited for India’s future. Finally, one quotation I heard at Reliance Industries really struck me:

“Destiny is a matter of choice, not a matter of chance.” This belief is widespread in India; it is exemplified by the thousands of people that move to Mumbai—The City of Dreams—every day for a chance at a better life. It is mantra that I would like to live my life by, and it inspires me to pursue my dreams and goals as a businesswoman.

3) What insight did you gain about yourself?

    During this incredible trip, I realized that I am going to make traveling a priority in my life. When I am older, I will save a portion of my income and put it in a travel fund. Traveling to India reminded me of all of the knowledge that can be gained from experiencing a culture divergent from my own. I feel like this trip gave me significant insight into the business world of India, and now I would like to return to India during an alternative break trip to see the “other side of India.” I am looking into going to volunteer in the Banjara Basti slums this winter or next winter with the USC Volunteer center.

    Beyond my rekindled desires to travel frequently, I want to be more grateful. After witnessing how content even the poorest people in India were, I am trying to remember to embrace all of the beauty that surrounds me. I am striving to be more thankful for the many things that I simply take for granted. I feel so blessed. For example, I am currently writing thank you letters to my parents to thank them for always supporting my dreams and making this incredible opportunity to attend USC possible. Before I go to bed every night, I try to remind myself of all the people and opportunities that I am grateful for.

     #MWLBlove

Amanda Geiger