Want to know what it’s like to take a course at the State University of New York? We talked to Patricio Jousset, a student of the Strategic Thinking course from the class of January 2020, who told us a little about his experience in New York, about the course and the university.
Continue reading to see the full interview.
- Patricio, tell us a little about yourself, your background and nationality. Also, how did you discover IBS Americas?
My name is Patricio Jousset, I am a Public Accountant, I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and I discovered the school through UCA – the Catholic University of Argentina.
- How was the experience of studying with people of different nationalities for you? How do you think that helped you personally and professionally?
It was certainly an excellent experience that completely changed the way I saw things, opened my mind, and helped me develop more flexibility in both my personal and professional life.
- Which companies did you visit? How was the experience? What subjects did you talk about with the executives and what were you able to take from these conversations?
I visited General Electric and Plug Power.
The experience was really great, as the executives at the two companies gave us an overview of the different business units and answered all our questions related to several areas such as Finance, Strategy or Marketing.
What I learned from these meetings was that the two companies base their success on medium and long-term Strategic Planning. In turn, this has helped me a lot to apply this knowledge in SUNY’s case studies.
- What about the routine, how did you organize studying and enjoying your free time? What did you do during those times?
After classes, during the week, I read the material that we were going to see the next day to be well-prepared and able to enjoy the case studies better.
On the weekend I took the opportunity to visit other places. I got to know the city of Albany, went out with classmates, and traveled to Manhattan, where I went to see a NY Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. It was an unforgettable experience!
- What is the structure of SUNY? What did you have access to inside and what were the classrooms and equipment like?
The structure of the university is excellent. Not only the building infrastructure, but also the cordiality of the people who work there (teachers, coordinators and administrative staff). Everything was at our disposal, designed so that our only concern was to study.
- What course did you choose? How was the dynamics of the classes and what are the proposed challenges?
I chose the Strategic Thinking course. In the classes, we analyzed business cases of different companies and gave our opinion and point of view on the decisions and strategies taken by the management of these companies.
As a final assignment, we formed teams, chose a company and had to present it as if we were its executives, covering all areas (Strategy, Finance, Marketing, etc.).
It was definitely a great way to learn and study.
- After having completed this course and had this experience, what are the differentials you believe you’ve developed in relation to other professionals in the market?
I think the differential in relation to those who have not gone through this experience is having studied at a university in the United States, living daily life in English in a multicultural environment. This added a lot of value as a professional and was important to improving my curriculum as well.
On the other hand, apart from the purely academic side, the most important differential for me is the fact of sharing each day of your life with people of different nationalities, learning about each person’s culture. This is certainly an important resource that I’ve brought back with me.
Patricio, the IBS Americas team thanks you for taking part in the interview for our Blog and wishes you a lot of success and achievements in your professional career.
If you are interested in this experience and want to have the opportunity to study at SUNY, register for the selection process for the classes of July 2022 or January 2023. Scholarships are exclusive for the six short courses (3 weeks).
