BFP Tracking As seen by the progress-tracking page screenshot above, I was not only in the massively-successful Business Foundations Program but performed with Distinction. I met all requirements, including the GPA qualifier, and earned an A in all classes in my specialized Global Track besides Marketing (due to transfer difficulties from abroad).
As noted by the study abroad component, I attended a Business Foundations Program Semester Plus abroad in Mexico City in the Fall 2017 semester. I spent about five months there (and in Queretaro after a forced evacuation from massive earthquake damage) taking BFP courses in marketing and economics (among other non-BFP), both of which I performed well in.
While taking the first course in CDMX I created a succinct presentation on myself that I thought would go well here. When I transferred to a sister institution in Queretaro, our curriculum changed to create a stand in a marketing fair. We had to develop a business plan (attached) and build everything from the ground up–our vendors, promotions, and the stand itself. The event went well and we even won a design award.
The second class was interesting for its international view since it was taken outside of a US school; my final presentation is included here as well.
I was also accepted to a business-related internship with Latin American Marketing Consultants where my job was to conduct research in mom-and-pop shops throughout the city, to devise a business plan for how best to roll out a new government-funded technology for storekeepers through the new branch Colibri. However, that too was changed by the earthquake.
Before that debacle, I did get to participate in the pilot program of a two-week finance course during my first few days abroad. This course was the regular, already-intense semester version condensed down into two weeks of nearly 24/7 work. The 7 of us studying abroad together would attend 4-6 hours of class in just finance each day, punctuated only by lunch. Many days we would also have a guest lecturer spend another few hours talking about the same subject. Our nights were filled with studying for the daily quizzes and weekly exams; we got very little sleep and saw very little of our exotic surroundings. We did however bond closely together through that shared hardship, which prepared us well for the tragedy of the earthquake and the relocation and separation it caused (as well as all of the inevitable emotional fallout).
After that semester, I completed most of my BFP requirements. The final two were met during a second study abroad program, Management in Prague, during the first summer session of 2018. One was taught by two UT professors, while the other was taught by a parade of at least 5 Czech ones. Both required a lot of hard work and daily focus, during a time where we all just wanted to Czech out our beautiful surroundings.
At the end of those two intense month-long business classes, I applied for certification in the more prestigious Global Track of the Business Foundations Program. As you can see below, I earned it!
