The summer of 2012 was the BEST Summer yet!! Let me tell you why. In the fall of 2012 I received an email about the Business and Economics Summer Term a summer study abroad opportunity. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but reading the program agenda sold me. I applied and do you know what? I got in. I was accepted to study abroad at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Duisburg, Germany. Let me tell you if you have never gone out of the country you most definitely should. This is an experience that you can’t get in the classroom.

I was a participant in the 2013 International Business Immersion Program (IBIP). The program includes a class in the spring semester and directly following final exams, a two week trip abroad.  This year we were lucky enough to go to Brazil for 2 weeks.  We flew into Sao Paulo where we visited agricultural companies for the first five days. After that we went to a resort on the Pantanal, which are the wetlands in Brazil.  While we were there we were able to take a boat tour of the wetlands.  Our next stop on the trip was Mato Grosso, the farming state in the country.

“My name is Aaron Wall; I’m currently a Junior, majoring in Agricultural and Consumer Economics within the College of ACES. While I am still not exactly sure what I want to do with my major, I know that there will be plenty of post-graduation opportunities available to me.

My name is Michael Courtney and I am a senior in the college of ACES studying Consumer Economics and Finance with a minor in Leadership Studies.

When I was deciding where to attend college, I had a number of criteria to sort through. Did I want to go to a big school or a small school? What did I want to study? Where did I want to work when I graduated?  All of these questions came to mind when I was choosing a school, and ACES was the result.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) fall conference in St. Louis, MO with two fellow ACES students. At the conference, we learned more about what is new in the agri-marketing industry. We also listened to several speakers, but in particular there were two keynote speakers who motivated us to be more successful in our future careers.

Several points that the two speakers made were:

Although unemployment rates are troublesome to many soon to be college graduates, those who study agriculture are in for some relief. In a May 2013 study conducted by Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, those who studied agriculture have one of the lowest recent college graduate unemployment rates. Those who are experienced college graduates majoring in agriculture can expect even lower unemployment rates at around 3 percent.

My name is Erin and I am a junior in ACE with a concentration in Financial Planning. Currently, I am not really sure what direction I want to take with financial planning. It seems like there are so many different options from financial advisor to broker to estate planning. Luckily, I have the opportunity to learn more about each one of those options thanks to ACE 398 (Contemporary Financial Planning). It is a course offered through the College of ACE that features a few different speakers each week in the financial planning field.

On our last day in Rio some of us decided to get up (or should I say stay up) to watch the sun rise over the Copacabana Beach. Most of the group woke up early enough to enjoy some time at the beach before our 12 o'clock check out time. Some of us even braved the ocean waves. After checkout we ate lunch and did some last minute souvenir shopping before leaving for the airport.

We woke up early this morning in Rio de Janeiro, to experience our last full day in Brazil, to visit one of the most famous places in Rio - the "Christ the Redeemer" statue atop the famous Corcovado mountain which overlooks all of Rio.  Upon arrival at the bottom of the mountain we took a 20 minute train ride to the top filled with scenic views along the way of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. From the bottom of the mountain the statue looked small, but we all had a change of mind as soon as we stood at the top of the mountain and were right next to it. 

We kicked off our Thursday morning with a meeting at Anheuser-Busch’s (AMBEV) Direct Distribution Center in Rio de Janeiro. Right away we were welcomed with open arms by a highly energetic and boisterous chant from the AMBEV employees, which occurs daily at this plant in order to show how committed the employees are in the company.  It’s called a “morning meeting.”