This summer I interned for a venture capitalist called Bcombinator located in Barcelona, Spain as a data analyst. 

Spain is a beautiful country with a unique culture full of rich history. Living in Barcelona for the entirety of the summer I learned how to adapt to my surroundings. Among all the ways in which I assimilated into Spain the most difficult cultural aspect for me to adopt was the lifestyle pace. I don’t feel comfortable generalizing the entire population of Spain based solely on my experience but while I was there I saw strong importance placed on immediate relationships. Any stress that is put on a relationship due to work is out of the question. 

Prioritizing immediate relationships over career success is quite contrary to the competitive work culture in the United States. For as long as I can remember I have always strived to be the best. Whether that meant climbing to a higher branch than my older brother or collecting the most donations for a fundraising event. There’s a part of me that always desires to outshine everyone else. 

Towards the end of my internship, I made a trip to Granada, Spain to visit a friend I had made last semester at UM. Pablo was born and raised in Granada and came to UM to continue his studies. Living in his household for the two nights I was in Granada gifted me a new perspective of how beautifully simple life can be when it is centered around family. This way of life is a transformation I am consciously working at implementing. 

On a different note, my GLI global theme and challenge is Technology and Society. After interning for Bcombinator I learned that there is a lot of uncaptured value in organizations due to the repeatable tasks that are left unautomated. The longevity of any type/size of an organization is contingent on having a tech-savvy person take robotic processes out of employees’ job responsibilities to draw out their humanistic characteristic of creativity. It was rewarding to do this at Bcombinator and become an asset to the organization.