European Business Experience:
London, Paris & Prague

by Lisa Steuer ’08
 

We began our journey as six Lyco students from very different places—New Jersey,   New York, Pennsylvania and China. A couple of us had been friends before the trip but most of us had never spent much time together prior to embarking on our “European Business Experience.” 

Our adventure began in London. While there, we toured the entire city, ate fish and chips, and rode the Underground. After getting a sense of the city’s culture, we visited companies like Bloomburg, a financial data company; the Chicago Board of Trade; the Bank of England; and Bell Pottinger, a public relations firm.

The next step on our trip was Paris. In the “City of Lights,” we went to the Eiffel Tower, visited the Mona Lisa at The Louvre, took a beautiful walking tour, and visited State Street Global Advisors.

Our last stop was Prague. Most of us agreed this old city was the most beautiful. While there, we got a sense of the Czech Republic’s complicated history during a presentation on Communism. We also visited many businesses, such as the Prague Stock Exchange and the Orco Property Group. A particularly eye-opening experience was a visit to Terezin, a former Jewish ghetto and concentration camp. 

Accompanied by Professor Alka Gandhi, we had the unique opportunity to spend the day with Petr Srsen, Pennsylvania’s Authorized Trade Representative in the Czech Republic. Mr. Srsen is the Director of the Czech Office of KTKL, a network of associated consulting and legal firms providing domestic and international consulting and legal services in many countries worldwide.  

Mr. Srsen graciously hosted us in the Prague office and presented a lecture titled “Doing Business in the Czech Republic.” The Lycoming College/Czech Republic connection was made through the Institute of Management Studies (IMS) internship coordinator and SEDA-Council of Governments (SEDA-COG) Export Development Team.  

At the ORCO Property Group’s Prague headquarters, we were guests of Mr. Barry Coleman, Director of Human Resources. Mr. Coleman spent a day on the Lycoming College campus in March as the first IMS Visiting Executive. Mr. Coleman is a former business associate of Mr. Marshall Welch III, a trustee and IMS board member.  Some students even met with Orco Property officials to talk about internships, so it’s possible that some of us may come back to work in Europe.

Essentially, the trip was a business class, with the purpose of us seeing how businesses go global and operate around the world. We gained knowledge of this, of course, but this experience was so much more than that. We saw aspects of these cities that other visitors never get to see. We were able to see these cities from the inside and how they operate day-to-day. We had the opportunity to walk the city streets in business suits, giving us a sense of what it would feel like to be in the working world there.  

We started out on this journey as six students who didn’t really know each other. We ended the trip as friends who experienced an amazing part of the world together. Even though we are most likely going to go our separate ways in the future, I can’t help but feel that this experience has connected us in a unique way. 

We will never forget our time in Europe and hopefully we will all get to go back. Our May Term experience has certainly prepared us if the opportunity ever comes our way again.