International Summer Program: new stories to tell, new knowledge to transmit, new friends for life...

Speech at the Closing Ceremony of International Short Program in cooperation with IBS Americas

July 25, 2019

Good afternoon everyone,

Three weeks ago, we arrived to Italy from all over the world, only with expectations about our courses, the people we were going to meet and the places we were about to visit. And now I´m sure everyone can say that this experience fulfilled all our expectations and beyond.

We were able to learn about business, management, strategies and how to innovate, applying all our previous knowledge into the daily classes. To complement this learning process the company visits, the visit to Milan Fashion District and to the World Trade Organization in Geneve were key points in this journey, because they showed us how to implement all the theory we were learning in the real world. During our stay here we were always increasing our wisdom regarding to the different topics of the courses, the different countries and cultures and of course Italy.

The professors and coordinators were as inspiring as the topics were interesting. Each one taught us not only academic lessons but also life lessons so for that we are thankful. These lessons allow us to grow as professionals and also as human beings. All the tools that we gain in this experience will allow us to have the best performance and attitude towards any difficulty or challenge that we face during our life.

I admire everyone of my classmates and every student of the different courses because they all showed passion, good energy and the most positive attitude in every moment of the course. I am sure that each one of them worked very hard in their respective projects, because that’s what these people are used to do, always their best. Accepting the challenge of working out of their comfort zone, in groups with people they ´ve never met before, people from different countries, ages and experience levels and by seeing the amazing results I´m very proud of all of them.

They all show that they were made for great things; there´s no impossible goal for them, and if they keep up with the hard work, the love for what they do and the desire of learning as much as they can they will have amazing lives.

I´m so grateful to CUOA and IBS for letting me meet all of these amazing people. At the beginning they were just strangers to me, but now they are my friends and they all have a special place in my heart. I now know that I have a home in Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Spain and many other countries and I hope they all know they have a place in Colombia.

We arrived here by ourselves and now we leave with stories to tell, knowledge to transmit, new shoes, some extra kilos and most important new friends for life.

So, for all this and more, thank you CUOA, thank you IBS and thank you Business Strategy and Marketing Management friends.

Thank you all.