When seniorSAIIansCoelloand Lucy Marchena came to the United States as international students at Harding, they had no idea just how far their cross-cultural experience would take them. Coello, originallyfromTegulcigapa, Honduras, and Marchena, from Costa Rica, travelled across another ocean from the U.S. to the Ukraine over spring break 2010 for the International Business Society (IBS) Business Ethics Seminar. The goal of IBS was to both broaden its members' cultural experiences and give back to a global community. "IBS is a business club whose purpose is to bring together international and business students to create a social and business network," Coello said. "IBS helps its members gain knowledge of other cultures and how business is done in other countries." IBS was in its ninth year conducting the seminar at Ukraine's State University of Information when Coello and Marchena signed on.They joined a team of about 16 Harding students who spent the fall semester preparing to teach Ukrainians about the importance of character and how it related to business. It was the last year Harding students would make the trip, according to business professor Dr. Budd Hebert. "When we decided this would be our final trip, I received an e-mail from the dean of the school say1ng that her students have really gotten a lot out of the seminar," Hebert said. The Ukrainian students were not the only ones to benefit from the seminar, however. "Before we went, I thought, that's a whole different culture (and even I am from a different culture than 2 08 organizations America)," Coello said. "But once we got there, it was cool to see that Eastern Europe is not what you might expect. The young people were very friend ly.Within two days we had a friendship bond-we were joking-we were having conversations about our respective cultures." Marchena, a broadcast journalism major, was invited to join the team to document the seminar on video. Even from behind the camera, Marchena was drawn to the Ukrainian students. "At the beginning they were shy," Marchena said. "People did not know how to speak to each other. No one knew how to speak Spanish, and we did not know Russian . .. once we tried to learn some Russian, and they told us that our pronunciation was much better than the Americans." Over the course of the week, the students discovered that in spite of the language difference, cross-cultural friendships had been communicated, and the teachers were the ones who had really learned something. "When we are in our countries, we see one thing," Coello said. "But this gives us a sense that there's this huge world out there." When it came time to say goodbye, students fought back tears that said more than words ever could. "We've had occasions where when it's time to go, students are JUSt crying their eyes out," Hebert said. "It's very touching." There was nothing business-like in those final good byes. "It's not only about the seminar or the video," Marchena said. "It's about the relationships." Kelsey Sherrod
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==