International MBA Program
Internship Web Journal
Tara Loescher
IMBA Class of 2008
PPG, Paris, France
tara_loescher@moore.sc.edu
Journal Entry #3 - July 5, 2007:
So much has
happened since my last blog… I know it was short, especially for me, but I was trying to get it
done before leaving for a weekend in Vienna. That's where I'll start this entry.
Andy, my boyfriend, came to visit for 3 weeks, and we decided to see another country for his last weekend. After checking out several options online, we decided on Vienna. We had a great time at the Schönbrunn Palace with its gardens and the world's oldest zoo… it's been years since either of us had been to the zoo, so we decided to wander through. From there, we explored the city center, and saw St. Stephen's Cathedral. The coolest part of the cathedral was its roof – which is multi-colored tiles.
We got back to Paris on Sunday and my boss let me take off work on Andy's last day, so we went
to Saint
Chapelle and
the garden at the Rodin Museum where we saw
The Thinker. After he left, I had a rough bout of homesickness, but I started pulling
myself out of it after a few days and turned all of my focus on my internship.
Now that I'm a bit more than half way through my internship, I feel like I've got a good handle
on my projects, and I've had several status meetings with my boss, who, so far, has been pleased
with my
work. While my
standard merchandising responsibilities include things like ordering tools and creating the 2008
merchandising manual, the other projects are more involved, requiring creativity, analytics,
project management, and people skills. A couple of my projects revolve around the creation of new
selling tools, and not just the creative aspects, but the technical features, timelines, budgets,
etc. Meanwhile, I've devoted a lot of time to analyzing the use of a digital kiosk as an in-store
merchandising tool. This project took me to retail stores in the Netherlands for several days (and
when I got behind the wheel of the rental car, I realized that it's been more than 6 months
since I've driven anywhere). Recently, I've begun work on a loyalty program -- before now, I didn't
realize how much coordination runs behind the scenes of my SkyMiles and Hilton Honors memberships!
I've got plenty of work to keep me busy through the end of my internship.
Last week, I was invited by the COO to fly to Tampa at the end of the month to present some of my work to members of the global management team... don't worry; I'll fill you in after it happens!
All work and no
play is definitely not my style. In mid-July, I spent the weekend with Nanda and Emily in Clermont.
In French fashion, our 3.5 hour train ride there turned into a 10 hour train ride! We made the most
of it and found a number of ways to entertain ourselves (Nanda actually
made an entire
deck of playing cards from a newspaper!)… the rest of the weekend went according to plan, we spent
Saturday afternoon shopping and that evening we joined in the festivities of a going away party for
one of Nanda's friends from Michelin.
When we returned to Paris, I was psyched to see an e-mail from Alex saying that he would be in town for a meeting and would love to meet up. We got together for dinner before he had to catch a train to Belgium. In order to conduct the benchmarking study for his internship, he's traveling the world (I think he'll have been on every continent except Antarctica before the summer is over!).
The following
weekend, Vangie and her mom came to visit. It was Vangie's first time here, so we did the tour of
Paris! We started with the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe before going to the Louvre. By then, we
were ready to eat, so we found a café and sat outside by the Opera. Later in the evening, we met
Nanda on the Champs to grab a bite and check out the casino. We found the casino (really a small
game room) only to learn that all the tables were full, it was super smoky, and there was a 20 euro
minimum… that's when we decided to call it a night. The next day, we went to Montmartre and Sacre
Coeur; afterwards, we ended the tour with Notre Dame. While I was sad to see them leave,
I couldn't be too disappointed because the next weekend, I went to Morocco to see them.
Vangie met me at the airport and we were back at her apartment in time for dinner (combination of foods from Morocco and the Philippines, courtesy of her mom). On Saturday, we spent the morning at a salon where you can get an hour massage and a pedicure for about $25… it was awesome and super relaxing. While it's been cool and rainy in France, it's hot and sunny in Morocco, so we spent the afternoon poolside at a 5 star hotel. From the pool, we had a beautiful view of the city. The next morning we were shopping at the old medina, where bargaining is the name of the game – between Vangie's Arabic, her mom's Dareja (spoken language that's a mixture of Arabic and French), and my French we had a successful trip and talked the merchants down quite a bit (don't worry, they're used to it and automatically give higher prices to tourists… as you might imagine, they immediately recognize a tall blonde girl as a tourist). Between the cool stuff and the enjoyment I found in bargaining, my suitcase was a bit heavier on the return trip!
Journal Entry #2 - June 11, 2007:
Wow, it's hard to believe four weeks have passed since my last blog
entry. Things have settled down a bit, work has become part of my routine, my small apartment feels
like home, and I've had a chance to explore my neighborhood!
At work, I've adjusted to being in a very international environment – when I call suppliers or coworkers, I often get voicemail messages in languages I don't speak (today was German and Dutch) – and I can see elements of the International Management class coming to life before my eyes. The atmosphere is quite vibrant, filled with energy and excitement, which makes it fun to go to work each day… and since I've figured out when to leave my apartment to catch the less crowded metro, the trip there isn't bad at all.
Journal Entry #1 - May 7, 2007:
What a day! For my third day of work, I just flew back from Milan, on my first business trip with my internship… It was a quick trip to MIDO – one of the major tradeshows for the business – a great opportunity to meet everyone while gaining insights into the industry.
Before I go too far, I should probably back up and introduce myself. My
name is Tara Loescher, I'm 25 years old, and I'm thrilled to be spending the summer in Paris. In
2003, I graduated from Carolina with degrees in marketing and finance, along with a French minor.
After a month of traveling around Europe, I buckled down and focused on work for the next three
years. I was working in a marketing role for a new product development group, and about halfway
through, we switched gears to launch one of the products we worked to develop. It was exciting and
challenging, enabling me to experience many aspects of the business, and I worked with a great
group of people – so why'd I leave?
Despite having studied business in undergrad, there were a lot of things I didn't know and had to learn on the job, and I felt B-school would increase my learning curve. Additionally, I want to move up the corporate ladder and believe an MBA will enable me to do that more quickly.
So why return to USC? The opportunity to learn another language in-country was very appealing to me – when else would I have a chance to do something like that? Combined with an internship abroad, there was no way I could resist. And I certainly couldn't pass up two more seasons of Gamecock football, especially with Spurrier coaching – Go Cocks!
In July 2006, I began the IMBA core – an intense series of classes that challenged me to think analytically and creatively, while working with my classmates to make things happen. It was hard work but definitely worth it.
I decided to do the Spanish track because it's a language that has always appealed to me and so many people speak it that I thought it would be the most useful. In January, I packed my bags and moved to Salamanca, Spain for four months. There, I lived with a host family and took five hours of class each day – all in Spanish, of course. And now, I feel very comfortable communicating in Spanish.
You may be wondering why I'm in Paris if I just finished studying Spanish
– I considered both countries in my internship search and was offered the opportunity to work with
Transitions Optical (a joint venture between PPG and Essilor) in a merchandising role. In addition
to being excited about the job, I'm looking forward to refreshing my French – right now, I'm
speaking frespañol (lots of Spanish words keep entering my French sentences!) Most of my coworkers
are French, so I should be able to remedy that by mid-August.
Did I mention that I have an amazing view from the office? The building is in La Defense with windows facing the Champs-Elysées – I can see Sacré Coeur, l'Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower!