Featured in the above photo:  Lunch and conversation with Lord Neil Kinnock in the House of Lords Dining Room. 

By Olivia Lacny (PMBA '23)

One of my biggest regrets from my undergraduate years is that I didn’t study abroad. My friends would come back from a semester in Paris, a summer in Valencia, or a month in Nicaragua with memories and a whole new world perspective that I envied. I knew at the time that my financial situation could not support an extended time abroad and I did not yet have the confidence to travel alone. Still, it bothered me that I hadn’t taken the opportunity to revel in the mélange of culture and academia. I made my peace with that fact, accepting that the time in my life for living abroad had passed.

Having experienced graduate school in my late twenties, I knew that the lessons I gleaned from academia were more meaningful than when I was in my late teens/early twenties. I feel that having waited until grad school to “study abroad”, this sentiment holds true. The timing is right. I remember snickering at my friends who returned to America feeling “cultured” and “worldly”, as if 16 weeks in a different country could alter your world view. I understand it now. Just six days in the United Kingdom has changed my outlook on climate change, work-life balance, and the impact policy has on public health outcomes. 

Most of this is due to the interactions that we had with the different spheres of expertise, but I would be remiss if I thought my classmates didn’t also play into this perspective shift. I thought that after this trip I would have gotten my “study abroad fix”, but I want to live an extended time abroad now more than ever. This is just the beginning and as a prepare to enter my thirties, I’m open to the opportunity of moving outside of the United States. Mortgage, dog, and homelife aside, this trip has taught me the importance of immersion in a different culture.

This experience wouldn’t have altered my perspective, had it been a class of 20, like-minded MBA students.  One of the most invaluable attributes of this course is that I was surrounded by people who chartered a different path in academia. I learned almost as much from the questions that others asked, as I learned from the keynote speakers. For instance, some of my classmates had an impressive background in environmental policy. Every time that  they asked a question about climate policies, I would find myself amazed by their expertise in the field. I felt this with almost all my classmates from different programs. At dinner our first night,  a couple of my classmates spent 25 minutes talking about the Jones Act as it relates to the Coast Guard and the supply chain. Did I have any clue what the Jones Act was? No, but I do now! The smaller, informal interactions with my peers proved to be as meaningful and informative as our formal interactions.

Culturally, it’s obvious that Brits spend more time thinking about current international events compared to how often Americans think about global happenings. Could it be because Brexit was only a few years ago, and the fallout from leaving the EU has dominated the news ever since? Maybe. On the train a man and his son (who was probably around 7 or 8 years old) sat down across from me. The son asked a question that prompted his father to respond with his thoughts on the US’s national debt. The reverse situation would never happen in the US! I doubt American third graders are keen to discuss other countries’ national debt. This was also a theme of my conversations at the Alumni event. Expats explained how they spent their weekends and I realized how easy it is to immerse yourself in a dozen different cultures. You can easily take a weekend trip to Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Rome (the list goes on)- where the language, food, fashion, and traditions are all wildly different than London. In the US we have the option of traveling across the US or to Canada all of which are similar. Mexico is the only country within somewhat close proximity in which you can experience a different culture.

My favorite speakers included MP Carolyn Harris and Richard Threlfall from KPMG. Both had a contagious enthusiasm for their work. As a consultant, I appreciated learning about consulting in a different industry. I loved Richard’s “primer” activity asking questions like “what would happen 6 years & 26 days from today?”. It felt like a game of trivia, which was a welcome change after a long day of meetings.

Carolyn spoke with such passion on the concept of women’s health and menopause, it reinvigorated the same passion that I once had while studying in undergrad. When Carolyn said that she would let us know when she was on Capitol Hill, I would ACTUALLY want to see her! She was a refreshing personality in a somewhat stuffy parliament building.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this program. It exceeded my expectations and pushed me to learn and explore academic disciplines other than my own. The itinerary was perfectly organized and executed and with each new guest speaker I felt more excited. I used to poke fun at my friends who said study abroad “changed their life”, and while I’m the same person that I was before London, I will cherish the memories I created through this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Featured in the above photo: The group in front of Buckingham Palace. 

By Carol Baillie (MA Environmental Resource Policy '23) 

Studying abroad has been a goal of mine since I was a first-year college student back home in California. This was prior to joining the U.S. Coast Guard, which would lead me down the career path to where I am today at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and as a part-time graduate student at The George Washington University. Studying abroad in London represents the journey I have been on in life to identify my goals and academic focus. In turn, the Short Term Study Away Program (STAP) UK experience meant many things to me.

At the end of the first official day of the program we were waiting in the lobby of KPMG when I heard the distinct sound of metal breaking. I felt an instant loosening of my carbon fiber ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) and broke into tears fearing the worst since I did not have a replacement brace with me or any materials to repair it. Instantly, without asking, several of my classmates rallied around me to lend assistance. First, they sat me down and encouraged me to relax as they worked to help find a temporary solution to fix the brace until we reached the hotel. Second, the magic of teamwork happened, my brace was “rigged” so I could continue to fully participate in the remainder of the day and program. I felt an overwhelming sense of emotions at once and the experience showed me that I could trust, something I struggle with in daily life.

Some of the biggest challenges associated with being a part-time Environmental Resource Policy graduate student were not only to make the STAP opportunity work with my job at the EPA, but also with leaving my comfort zone. My decision to study abroad was based on the following:

1. Do I have enough work leave balance?
2. Would I be able to study in a location that interested me?
3. Would I be able to study material that aligns with my degree and career?
4. Would I learn something new?

As a result, STAP UK: Business and the State was the best fit. This program served as an impetus for my recovery from my fourth surgery in three years among other “carrots”. I was determined to learn anything and everything while studying abroad including business-related topics (since it is a business course!), public-private partnerships, State owned enterprises (SOEs), and privatization of assets. What surprised me about the experience was learning not only about these topics but also about myself.

Two themes emerged in both the course theory and practice during the overseas program: net zero strategies and the role of public-private partnerships. Net zero strategy is the equivalent of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts in the US for those not familiar with the concept of climate change and environmental science.  

Christophe de Taurines at Long Harbour introduced net zero and the UK environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework through the Fawley waterside project. It was interesting to learn how in practice, not just in theory, the UK in comparison to the US is far less progressive when it comes to net zero and ESG. Iit was quite shocking to be frank. 

The US has no clear or enforceable national climate change standards in comparison to the UK’s net zero strategy. Furthermore, when I asked a question regarding responsible parties and the clean-up of land for the Fawley waterside project, the responsible party offered a fifty-year guarantee on the land cleanup free from contamination, a stark contrast to US standards for Superfund sites which have no guarantees. I left the meeting with Mr. Taurines more intrigued about ESG and net zero, particularly regarding his statement, “There is no ESG if it is not economically viable…there has to be economic incentives to be viable including incentives to be sustainable.” Is this true, even in the US? The answer is yes. 

Utilities and privatization were first introduced in the pre-travel course readings by Dr. David Newbery in “Privatization, Restructuring, and Regulation of Utilities,” and later reinforced by Dr. Newbery in his lecture at Cambridge University regarding “Privatisation, Restructuring, Regulation and Reform of Electricity: progress to net-zero.” I was particularly interested in the lecture because it tied together both net zero and privatization of utilities (electricity in this case!), two topics I hoped to study. 

Dr. Newbery’s two-part lecture explored how restructuring is essential prior to privatizing an asset which was right in line with his discussion in the pre-course reading materials. The entire lecture was extremely engaging, and I was impressed by the caliber of instruction my classmates and I were afforded through academic engagement at Cambridge University.

It pushed me to learn the role economics play in PPPs and regulation with privatization which is something I plan to share with my colleagues at the EPA. I’m glad that I took several economics courses in both my undergraduate and now graduate degree programs!

Through the STAP UK experience, I also learned independence and that I can trust others to assist me in times of need. It is okay to ask for help and receive it. Overall, I am glad that I participated in this program and highly recommend it.