DE: Where are you from?
OP: I‘m from Romania, a small country in Eastern Europe, with some economical issues at this point. Like the whole Europe itself, Romania is a great country to visit for its culture, traditions and art and I’m proud of it.
DE: When did you first come to the U.S. and why?
OP: I first came to U.S four years ago. A lot of friends of mine use to come here to spend their summer, working and visiting because every college student is amazed about the “American dream” and about spending few days in New York, walking on 5th Avenue or Broadway or even more amazed by flying above the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls.
So I took the chance, applied for the Interexchange program – Work & Travel, passed the U.S Embassy Visa interview and here I was: 2006, JFK International Airport NYC, me and my one piece luggage heading to New Hampshire, ready for a three month American adventure.
DE: What did you study in college?
OP: My college degree is Economics, Finance and Banking and I also graduated a Business Development Management Masters Degree in 2009.
DE: Did you have to pay for your college?
OP: Yes, I did. Some of the money that I made here helped me pay for my college fee. I also started to work in Romania, for a small advertising company as a sales agent in my third year of college.
DE: What are you doing while here?
OP: Since 2006, I came here every summer for three months and then go back to school. I used to work for Evans Expressmart, at their Subway Franchise on I-89, Exit 16 in Enfield, NH. This year, I got the opportunity to come back for a one year Management Internship Program with the same company.
DE: What are the major takeaways from your management training experience?
OP: My program started on June, it’s almost 6 months since I’m here, working with a great team at Evans Group. My goal as an intern is to obtain professional skills, knowledge and competencies within the company’s structure and ethics.
DE: What are some of the differences that you see regarding the way that business is conducted in the U.S. and Romania?
OP: The way of doing business is way different from country to country. Romania still feels some communism influences regarding people’s way of taking things when it comes to business. Romania still has big issues regarding corruption, which I didn’t see that obvious in U.S. Hopefully, I’ll get the change to interact more in the future with the American business environment, in order to be able to express a clearer comparison between the two.
DE: What do you hope to be doing when you return home?
OP: I took this challenge of working and spending a certain amount of time in a different society from my country like an international exposure and also a good English language improvement. An internship in a foreign country is a plus in the eyes of every multinational company like Genpact, Home Depot, or Emerson, which are some of the global leaders in business process and technology management located in Romania. I have always been looking forward to be able to build a career based on operational excellence, integrity and professionalism in one of the companies mentioned.
DE: What do you like most about living in the United States?
OP: At this point I enjoy my time in U.S, I like seeing and visiting as much as the time allows me to, and probably the thing that I enjoy the most is that time that I feel I miss home so much, that I find the strength to keep myself healthy in mind and spirit.
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