A Participant's Perspective: Hilary Nguyen

 
     Hi! My name is Hilary Nguyen, and I’m a global navigator for the Berlin Global Entrepreneurship Program Session 2.  These past few days have flown by and it is hard to believe that we’re already five days away from the end of our program in Berlin. I do not want this experience to ever end! I have learned so much about German culture by visiting various places in Germany.  One of the trips we took was to the border town of Görlitz. The town is located near the Polish border, and it has the most beautiful rustic European buildings that feature different architectural styles from various eras of European history. We have also taken in the sites of Berlin, via a city walking tour, such as the Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the famous Hotel Adlon. Our tour guide, Alexander, was a genuine cosmopolitan (whom I admired a lot) and he offered us a lot of thoughtful insights. His insights reminded me of the quote “There’s a thin line between love and hate” which seemed to correlate with the facts that I learned during the tour.

    I have also expanded my knowledge of business as a part of this program. Previously, I only had a basic understanding of business and how it works.  Now, I can not say that anymore because our program got off to a quick start. From the beginning, we began to delve into the field of entrepreneurship. I have often found myself marveling at the complex, yet interesting, aspects of starting a business such as: conducting market research on consumers, analyzing our industry to better understand our competitors, and sharing our minimum viable product with consumers to see if they would buy it. I have really enjoyed learning from our professor, Mario. He has truly helped us understand the various aspects of a starting a business through activities that have placed us in the shoes of real-life entrepreneurs. These activities have encouraged us to think of our target customer's persona, to think of what value our product offers from our customer's perspective,  and how our business' could be established using Ash Maurya's Lean Business Model Canvas. Along with the positives, he has also reinforced that while entrepreneurship may seem attractive to many people, it is also essential to know that failure is a integral part of the journey of a successful startup. These classes were always very informative and eye-opening for me because I had never previously thought about entrepreneurship from that perspective.

   Along with my newly aquired business acumen, I have gained a lot of life experience by participating in this program. Some of these life skills that I have learned include how to manage my personal budget and how to navigate Berlin’s public transportation (S-Bahn, U-Bahn, and Bus).  Initially, I was quite scared navigating Berlin's public transportation system, seeing as I grew up in Texas where driving a car is the norm, but daily I feel myself becoming more comfortable  traveling to different places in Berlin. Another facet to growing up in Texas is that I have not had many opportunities to try out European and Middle Eastern dishes. I’m grateful that the CIEE Global Institute is located in the heart of Kreuzberg, a district that is known for artistic buildings and cool cafes. Living there has given me a chance to try so many dishes from many different cultures such as Arabian cuisine, Turkish cuisine, and, of course, German cuisine. I tried my first Döner Kebab this week, and it was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my life. I usually do not have much of an appetite, but upon trying it out, I found myself indulging in its delectable taste.  I would highly encourage all future Global Navigators to actively seek out the many unique food chains in Berlin that highlight the diverse cultures as it is an essential part of the Berlin experience. However, my new foodie experiences are not limited to dining out because we have also helped prepare a Syrian meal. I sliced the tomatoes for a vegetarian dish called Fatteh which is a yummy dip made out of lemon, tomatoes, garlic, tahini, chick peas, onions, and yoghurt. 

Three weeks seems like a lot, but when you are enrolled in this program, the saying of “Time flies when you are having fun” seems to become more and more appropriate with the passing of each day. I am now off to go enjoy Berlin as much as possible. 

Tschusi ( See Ya) !

Hilary