Rice Business New Year's Global Elective

In December 2021 and January 2022, Rice Business has been running special travel elective programs for their students that due to the pandemic, had to take their compulsory Global Field Experience, online. The destinations chosen were Spain,?Panama, Costa Rica, and Chile,?Panama?being the only trip that ran over the New Year's Holiday?and--in addition to the Costa Rica immersion--allowed students to bring a guest along.

Academic content.

This program, even though it was rich in cultural activities as well as leisure ones, had important educational content as you would expect from any Academic Travel Program, that Rice Business runs in partnership with Austral Group, looking to offer participants a more global perspective and shine a light on the business environment and culture of the destination they visit.

In the case of Panama, this was no different, students got to see first hand the influence that the United States has had in Panamanian culture and development, visiting Panama Pacifico, the first project of its kind, as a government and private venture real estate mega-project. Additionally, the had the opportunity to talk to a Panama Canal Authority Engineer with more than 40 years of experience and talk about the importance of the Panama route to world commerce, its different business segments, and the impact the 2016 Canal Expansion project had on multiple sectors in different countries.

Lastly, and since Rice Business ranks #1 in Entrepreneurship in the US, a visit to a local small business was in order. The group got to visit Cerveceria Feroz, a local microbrewery that started operations in late 2019 and had to pivot and adapt their business plan to the multiple restrictions the country had on businesses, mobility, and alcohol consumption during 2020, and see the realities of opening and running a small business in other countries and the impact Covid had in the local economy through the eyes of a local entrepreneur.

Leisure and cohort bonding activities.

As we all know, networking is a key part of the value of obtaining an MBA degree, something that has not been the same for the candidates in the past 2 years. Getting the chance to bond with students from different cohorts was carefully thought out and arranged for the participants in this program, in which Rice combined their Professional Weekend and Evening MBA students. During the last day of the year, the group was treated to a private catamaran experience, where we navigated?Panama?Canal waters on the Pacific Coast and arrived at the island of Taboga to spend a day soaking in the sun, swimming in the ocean, and exploring the small town of Taboga Island before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the big event of the night, the New Year celebration, welcoming 2022 at a rooftop venue with a 6-course dinner followed by champagne, cocktails, and fireworks.

"What made this program really appealing to me was the balance between academic and cultural activities, and being able to bring a guest, and share this experience with my significant other."

-Paul Palermo, MBA Candidate

Cultural immersion experience.

This group also enjoyed a city tour of?Panama, including the old town "Casco Viejo", but nothing compares to the experience of visiting one of the multiple indigenous groups of?Panama?in their village. A visit to Embera was humbling and eye-opening, showing the contrasts and different realities that coexist in some areas of the world. This was a beautiful day spent in nature, navigating the waters of the Chagres River and National Park, but most importantly, it gave students the opportunity to share and spend time with the Embera people, learn about their culture, traditions, and gastronomy, as well as their challenges and limitations in their day to day lives.

"WOW! Austral is just as passionate about delivering a best-in-class experience to our students as we are, at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business. Your meticulous development, curation, and execution of a content-rich and balanced itinerary set the global elective to Panama up for success. You have my immense respect and gratitude for what you pulled off with our course, and the way you did it."

-Adam Herman, Executive Director, Office of Academic Programs and Students Experience at Rice Business.