“It was important for me to go abroad because I wanted to deepen my understanding of the world and widen my perspective on non-profit work. This program has been unlike anything else I have ever experienced before, and I was able to gain multi-faceted insights into the consulting industry on an international and non-profit platform. I knew that Ohio State was home to so many amazing study abroad programs that it would be silly of me not to take advantage of an amazing opportunity to learn globally,” reflected junior finance major Grace Min on the Fisher Global Consulting: Non-Profit, South Africa experience.
“This was my first time traveling to Africa, so it was already special to have the opportunity to explore a new continent but what made it uniquely memorable was doing meaningful service for local non-profit organizations. My peers and I spent our two weeks visiting different non-profit sites in which we got to perform direct service work such as packaging food, playing with local kids and cleaning up the ocean while working on our consulting projects!”
While Min and the team of Ohio State students were not engaged in meaningful projects with local non-profits, they explored Cape Town through a day-long peninsula tour, a hike on Table Mountain, a visit to a beach full of penguins and a cooking class of traditional food.
“I learned that I am more capable than I think I am to handle sporadic challenges. Working in a new environment while learning different cultural standards provided itself to be an initial difficulty but I learned how to pivot when things don't go as expected and to lean on my team to explore different ways of creating a solution. I also learned to stay open-minded as that was the best way to truly take away the most from this experience,” said Min.
“This experience has shaped the way I view problem-solving as different environments require unique ways of thinking to create tangible solutions. In tandem with this, this experience reaffirmed to me the importance of collaboration as I had the opportunity to work with non-profit leaders, Cape Town community members, fellow Ohio State students and program coordinators. I had the most amazing time on this trip as I felt myself grow both professionally & personally while also spending my 20th birthday in South Africa!”