I have some very exciting news: I committed to the University of Southern California for college. The specific program I got into is called the World Bachelor in Business, and I get to spend 1 year in Los Angeles, 1 year in Hong Kong, and 1 year in Italy, earning degrees in Business Administration from all three universities. Finding out I got into my dream school was such a special moment and I am really looking forward to all the opportunities this program will bring me.  O

Over spring break, my family and I took a very enjoyable trip to Japan. It was really nice to have a chance to unwind, explore a new culture, and take my mind off school for a little while. Now, that is not to say that I did not continue thinking about ISM and my final product development. In fact, being in a new country has exposed me to many new cultural characteristics and aspects of East Asian markets that can only be seen through personal experiences. For instance, I hav

I must admit, over the last couple of weeks I have felt like I am simply researching and researching without really having much to show for it. Each article I read begs 3 more to understand its contents. But, at last, I see more clarity in the future of my final product. I am pondering on if I can utilize artificial intelligence to make it an interactive quiz or chat bot instead of simply a poster or diagram. I will need to connect with my fellow ISM students in the technolog

I’m actually writing this weekly report over a week in advance, but I promise I have a reason for doing so. In my life outside of ISM, I am getting my wisdom teeth removed on February 12 and the following week I am headed to Dallas for the Texas DECA State Competition. My competition category actually aligns decently with management consulting since my category is entrepreneurship team decision making. My partner and I get an unseen scenario with 30 minutes of preparation tim

We had quite an unexpected last week with only one day of school due to the snow and ice. Honestly, though, it has been a great chance for me to relax and catch up on a lot of homework, while also planning ahead for the next week. I am grateful, in some ways, that the snow led to the ISM Showcase being canceled, since prior I was not able to attend it due to a conflict with an event my mentor had requested me to help host. However, now, I hope that the rescheduled dates for t

I cannot believe that it is already 2026, but this year brings a lot of milestones, namely my 18th birthday, graduation, and going to college. Within ISM, I have gotten a mentor for the business side of my topic. Her name is Neha Jain and she brings over a decade of experience in the consulting industry, and I have worked with her informally in the past as she guided me through case study analyses. I am very excited to have someone who can better guide me through consulting r

These past few weeks have been very busy as I work on completing my last few college applications and balancing all of my school work. I will admit that I am not as on top of my work with ISM as I had hoped I would be. However, I am quickly correcting that as I put together my final original work, which is a guide on the impact of culture and current events on business. In addition, I got the idea of creating my own consulting matrix that is equipped to be more culturally sen

This past week, I finally had my first two interviews of this school year. It feels odd to be starting the whole interview process again and I do feel like I got lucky with very responsive and kind professionals last year. Both of the professionals I met with thus far have been incredibly insightful. The first professional interview I had was with McKenna Schultz, an associate at Altair Global who I met at the Professional Symposium a few weeks ago. She was able to tell me a

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been practicing tons of cold calls in my ISM class. This means we get into different pairs of partners and take turns being the student and the professional. Honestly, last year I was fortunate enough to obtain several interviews and a mentor without doing much cold calling. However, this year I may need to harness it more, especially since international business is a much more niche industry. I’ve understood that I have a pretty good na

As of last week, we officially began the second quarter of the school year. I cannot believe that it has already been nine full weeks since the start of school. This quarter is going to be really busy, but I have a pretty solid plan about what I want to accomplish. First of all, I would like to confirm my mentor, or I should probably say mentors. Since my topic is dual-faceted this year, I would like to have one language mentor and one business mentor. I have asked Mr. Vargas

Last week, we finally had our ISM Professional Symposium, and it was amazing. I was curious to see how my experience would differ this...

Over the past two weeks, we have been rigorously preparing for the ISM professional symposium which is happening on Wednesday It is...

Last year, at this time, I was standing before my ISM journey, full of doubt and curiosity about what the year ahead would hold. This...

It is unbelievable that we are already approaching final presentation night. It feels like just yesterday I was interviewing to be...

Over the past week, I took a much needed break from work because my family and I went to Greece for spring break. It was a refreshing...

These past two weeks have been incredibly busy for me, but within ISM, I have made some progress on my final product. I have put together...

With the excitement of the display boards, showcase, followed by my first mentor visits, I had not done research assessments in a little...

The past two weeks have been a world wind of ISM events. From the Frisco ISD showcase to my first official mentor meeting, it feels like...

Last week was a bit chaotic with trying to prepare a professional display board on such short notice, but I got it done with my mom’s...

It is unbelievable to me that we are already in 2025, and I am halfway through my ISM journey. The past semester has been filled with...