With T- minus 4 days until departure and still less than half of the necessary malaria pills, I thought I might as well introduce myself. Hi everyone, my name is Julia Schwartz. I am a rising junior from Berkeley, California in the College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in economics and minoring in statistics. This summer I will be interning at Shahi Exports in Bangalore! I am incredibly excited for this opportunity and expereince.

I have never been to Asia and I have never been out of the country for more than 3 weeks so this summer is full of first for me. I’m excited for both the opportunity to expereince and learn about a new culture and the opportunity to work for such a large, well established company and learn about global imports, exports, and production. I have already begun looking into Shahi programs and am impressed with the good business lab, environmental initiatives, and the overall ethics of their business. I can’t wait to actually see the company and policies in action. On top of that I am excited to explore a new culture through food, visiting historic sites, and other fun cultural activities.  

I’m nervous about getting homesick and culture shock, but I am mostly nervous about getting physically sick because I know it is bound to happen. I also worry about my motivation and ability to go out and see knew things on my own. I think I will be relying heavily on my coiterns this summer to push me to do new things. We will see what this summer has instore, get excited!!

-Julia Schwartz