College of Business Administration Quarterly Newsletter
                                                                                                                       April 2006 - Volume 6.1

COBA Homepage :: The Executive :: The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love

  

“It’s impossible
to not be transformed.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love


“It’s impossible to not be transformed,” Audrie Liszewski, MBA class of 2008 proclaims.  Joining the Peace Corps was one of the most life-changing events she has ever experienced.  Not only did she grow as a person and business professional, but she met the love of her life, Patrick Goodwin, also an MBA student in the College of Business Administration (COBA), class of 2008.                                                             
 
“Joining the Peace Corps is a very long process” Liszewski and her fiancé, Goodwin both admit, “but well worth the effort!”  It takes about a year from the initial application until you officially join.  Liszewski and Goodwin’s bilingual skills in English and Spanish secured them both a spot in Paraguay. Each story is unique, but similar in how they apply what they’ve learned to the business world.  Working with people in a different country taught them how to cross-culturally manage projects successfully.  They were equally satisfied with their experience and would recommend it to “anyone looking to commit two years of their life in exchange for personal and professional growth,” Liszewski suggests. 
 

“It is not for everyone,” says Liszewski about the Peace Corps experience.  “The cultural differences are shocking, and adapting is a very big challenge.  You have to prepare yourself,” Goodwin advises. The country they were in did not have a lot of modern conveniences. “Technology has made life so convenient; washing clothes by hand takes the whole day,” Liszewski adds.  They both confess it was one of the most difficult things they have ever done, but they believe it provided them with an excellent foundation and incredible preparation to achieve their future goals.
 

One experience Goodwin remembers is working as a Municipality Services Development Volunteer.  He assisted small government entities with servicing the capital’s surrounding cities.  After three months of training he was placed in his service locale, where he faced intense skepticism while attending a welcoming party. “The citizens of Paraguay were led to believe that the volunteers were part of the CIA or FBI.  They thought the U.S. volunteers were spying on them to colonize their country.  "This inhibited much of my communication with the citizens and local officials.  They all held that skepticism, whether it was explicit or implicit, and they were careful with what they disclosed to me” Goodwin explains.  This experience helped him realize that in the future, when working with different countries internationally, he might have to work around other’s reservations towards America’s motives. 

Patrick Goodwin teaching basic finance to teachers and community members in San Javier, Paraguay.
 

Audrie Liszewski and Na Laurentina’s family, with their newly constructed fogon (brick oven) made by Audrie Lisewski, Patrick Goodwin and Na Laurentina’s husband.
 

 Liszewski’s volunteer assignment was in Environment Sanitations.  She taught courses, built stoves for locals and helped the community in numerous other ways.  She remembers a humbling experience when she was project manager of a fence building task.  While distributing the tasks and coming up with a plan of construction, she was surprised when she was asked to join them on a mission.  Disappointed, she went thinking that they needed her to help with the construction, “Can’t they build the fence on their own?” she thought. When she arrived, she was shocked to see that they had everything they needed and just wanted her to be around to observe the process.  She realized that “regardless of education, these people are intelligent and competent.” She entered the Peace Corps feeling as though these countries lacked competence to be successful, but quickly learned that they are able to succeed on their own and appreciate help from volunteers along the way.
As for their future, Liszewski and Goodwin both want to pursue careers in International Business, hopefully with the United States Agency of International Development (USAID).  They chose USF for their MBA studies because they believe the college “provides graduate students with the opportunity to have a customized program,” Goodwin explains. It also didn’t hurt that Tampa was conveniently located at the midway point between the couple’s families.
 

When asked what advice they could offer to their fellow colleagues and business professionals, Goodwin declared, “America is not the whole world. If you are interested in a career in International Business and the Peace Corps is not an option, at least do some studying abroad.  The perspectives and cultural understanding you’ll receive will be an asset to yourself and to your professional growth.”  Liszewski advocates humbleness and respect for your neighbor, “Sometimes you should just take the time to say hello and to be nice to others; regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender, we’re all equal and we all deserve respect.”

Audrie Liszewski and Patrick Goodwin at the Jesuit Ruins in   Encarnacion, Paraguay.