The experience of engaging in a Master of International Marketing program at Hult San Francisco has been extremely rewarding. Apart from all the expected benefits career-wise, I’ve encountered great surprises along the way. There is one that I want to highlight: I am living an interesting paradox. I have never been more globally connected, while also a part of a tight-knit community. I am part of a new world, without having to waive the benefits of existing in a smaller group.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, this paradox is also a huge trend in the start-up environment, thanks to the rise of the sharing economy in such a multicultural area. Essentially, this emerging socio-economic system is putting in check the conventional ownership model. People are sharing rides, cars, rooms, bikes, clothes, boats, even gardening tools.
By promoting this peer-to-peer model, companies like Airbnb, Lyft, and Uber have blown up previous business models to connect more people with things they need, like a place to stay or a ride to the airport. Companies with disruptive approaches are allowing people to build relationships of trust with mutual benefits. In doing so, they are empowering the community; people are more widely connected than ever before.
At Hult, I have been experiencing community intensely, but I am not alone. Every single student I know is having a life-changing year. We brought our cultures, our values and plans for the future—along with our suitcases. There has also been uncertainty and fear. But from day one, we have built a strong and genuine community because it is part of human nature to create a network of support, and to help each other overcome challenges.
The paradox of a global community is unique at Hult; our community is composed of students from 95 different countries. The amazing diversity of the world is here, in one building at 1355 Sansome Street in San Francisco. We are on the same journey; we are no longer strangers.
If you are planning to go abroad to build a path toward an international career, but don’t want to lose the benefits of belonging to a community, there is good news: you don’t have to choose anymore. You can have both, here at Hult San Francisco. It is a place to experience the world, and a place to call home.
Bruna Piovesan is a Master of International Marketing student and Hult Global Ambassador at Hult International Business School in San Francisco. She is an experienced senior brand strategist, passionate about different cultures, and looks forward to new challenges. She is half Brazilian and half Portuguese and can speak a few random sentences in different languages, collected as world trip “souvenirs.” She is looking forward to hearing from you — find her on Twitter: @brunapp.
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