3 minute read
Nine Days in the Life
NINE DAYS IN THE LIFE OF ALAN MYERS
Friday
Mexico City is only 2 short flights from Tennessee, and I am able to leave home Friday morning and arrive early afternoon. Once I land, I head directly to ITAM (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México—our partner school) for a working lunch with my team members. In the late afternoon, we meet more formally with our Capstone Project faculty. Later that night, we reconnect with all of our classmates at a welcome dinner at a fantastic restaurant with an authentic Mariachi band. Having an immersion experience in January also allows us to escape Nashville’s winter, and it’s great to be in Mexico with the sunshine and pleasant temperatures. Alan Myers chose the Global Immersion Track for several reasons. First, he believed that a deeper understanding of international business would help him in his career. Second, it would be easier on his family for him to be gone 4 times for a long week than for him to commute from Memphis to Nashville every other weekend.
Here’s how Alan describes the typical routine during his immersion experience in Mexico City.
Saturday-Sunday
The weekend is spent primarily with our teams and capstone coaches finalizing our Capstone Project, which we will present to our client in about one month. When we are not at a residency, we work on the capstone remotely, so having this in-person time to finalize our deliverables is very valuable. It’s not all work though. On Saturday afternoon, the cohort heads to the Teotihuacan Pyramids, which is an incredible cultural experience. And after our team meetings on Sunday, students organize a river boat cruise, which is relaxing and a lot of fun.
Monday
During the week, we have class from 8:30AM to 5:30PM. Our classes during this residency focus on family businesses and international competitiveness. The faculty at ITAM are awesome, and I am learning so much from them. We have a guest lecturer today, the CIO from Cinépolis movie theaters, who discusses strategy surrounding upscale movie theaters. It’s fascinating! This evening, our team decides to visit a theater to see their business model firsthand and enjoy a movie. Tuesday
On Tuesday, we continue our classes, have lunch, and end the day by working on coursework with our team. The lunches here have been fantastic. The university prides itself on their dining facilities. They have an unbelievable chef and cooking team. We eat really well in Mexico!
We are back in class and work on group assignments with our teams. For one deliverable, we write about technology disruptions and another about pricing strategies. One of our Vanderbilt professors also comes down to Mexico City on Friday and kicks off his Nashville residency class on creating and launching new ventures. Since we will part ways tomorrow, the cohort decides to get together one last time, and we spend the evening at a Mexican wrestling match. This is a lot of fun and another great cultural experience. Saturday
Class wraps up by noon, and we say our final goodbyes. Everyone is excited for our next (and final) residency in Nashville. I head to the airport and am home by early evening. It was a long 9 days, but the educational experience in this program has been incredible.
Wednesday
On Wednesday morning, we take a break from the classroom and go on a business visit to KidZania. All of us Americans have never seen anything like this before—impressed is an understatement. This interactive city teaches kids about business and careers via realistic role play. The facility is huge! What’s notable is that the CEO of KidZania personally meets with our group for over an hour. KidZania has operations in 21 countries, so we talk a lot about doing business internationally.
ALAN MYERS
IT Director - Papers the Americas, IT Innovation, IT University, Enterprise Architecture International Paper VANDERBILT EXECUTIVE MBA (GLOBAL IMMERSION TRACK)
