Summary of Activities
Indian interns in the U.S.

College of the Southwest

Team projects:

Team projects included a computer literacy project for senior citizens, a play based on the tale of The Shoemaker and the Elves which taught business ethics, trade and economic topics to high school students and a craft business (Christmas cards) for high school students.

 

Volunteer Experience:

A Halloween dance raised money for Hurricane Katrina victims.

 

Social and Cultural:

The intern visited Carlsbad Caverns, an immense and spectacular cave system.

 

Owens Community College

Classes:

During a marketing class the intern gave a marketing test and made a business presentation on India, which showed both the current business scenario in the bigger cities and the more widespread business practices all over the country. In an International Business class, she created a project for the other students where they picked a country and analyzed its business practices and culture.

 

Work Attachments:

The intern worked at the college newspaper at BGSU and wrote articles on various subjects including the effect 9/11 has had on international students and interviews with a Russian PhD student, an Indian undergrad and the Director of International Programs at BGSU.

 

Cultural & Volunteer Experiences:

The intern assisted in collecting canned food, clothes and other things for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The intern took part in a multi-cultural event in November where she demonstrated Indian dance. A Fall Festival taught school children entrepreneurship through games. The intern helped get sponsorships and worked with the planning and publicizing of the event as well as running a booth.

 

Indiana University East

Cultural & Volunteer Experience:

The team had a float in the parade which kicked off celebrations for Richmond's 200th birthday. The SIFE team held an auction and fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina victims. The host Faculty Advisor arranged a Halloween themed birthday party at a mansion in Richmond for the intern.

 

Work Attachments:

The host Faculty Advisor launched a television show where the intern did live on-site reports. One of these interviews gave him the opportunity to parachute out of a plane.

 

Additional Activiies:

The intern spoke at a conference for the Centre of Economics and Education where the focus was Entrepreneurship.
The intern took a radio practical and theory exam, at Earlham College.

 

Greenfield Community College

Business Visits:

The interns attended a symposium at the Franklin Chamber of Commerce. They also observed a Meeting of the College Trustees, where they had the opportunity to learn about the business side of the college and also interact one on one with the Deans of the various departments.

 

Classes:

A Seminar on International Markets and Peace and Conflict resolution had the interns learning about NGO's, developing economies, Islamic banking, and global self help groups.

 

Cultural & Volunteer Experience:

A welcome reception was held for them at the college and a local newspaper interviewed them. Local visits included attractions such as Mt. Sugarloaf (where they got a good view of the whole of Massachusetts) and colleges such as Amherst. They also visited New York City. The interns worked on a Community Service Programme on Poverty Alleviation. They visited a Native American Museum and enjoyed a concert of classical music.

 

Work Attachments:

One of the interns co-hosted two episodes of a series on the repercussions of the American Patriot Act. The interns also worked at the SIFE team's major fundraising project, a coffee bar, where they have learned firsthand the marketing and entrepreneurial skills that are used in small businesses.

 

Additional Activiies:

They have given several local presentations of both Indian culture and the differences between Indian and American culture.
In a filmed interview with the Greenfield Community College Business Club they speak extensively about SIFE, their internship experience and the way their perception of the United States has changed over the period of their internship.

 

Centenary College

Classes:

Classes included: Print Editing and Literature. The interns were asked to take part in a class discussion of fasting rituals. Participating in an active debate with her professor on the attitude about women entrepreneurs in India , the intern discovered that women in America did not have equal status with men until fairly recently.

 

Cultural Experience:

The college held a scavenger hunt in New York City as part of student orientation week. Other activities included: attending a Homecoming Dance, white water rafting on the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, experiencing the SIFE World Cup in Toronto, and discovering Halloween.

 

Work Attachments:

One of the interns was assigned to the local radio station, where she has written news features and edited sound bites.

 

Additional Activities:

The interns were given a tour of the horse stables at Centenary College.
They were asked to write an article for the college newspaper about how they got selected for the internship, their plans here at Centenary and when they go back to India.
One of the SIFE meetings included the Mentoring and Advising Professors (MAP), who assist the SIFE team with their projects.

 

Roberts Wesleyan College

Business Site Visits:

Business visits included Kodak and Xerox.

 

Cultural Experience:

The intern's host family took them to the beach, shopping at Walmart and to an amusement park. They visited New York City to see Chinatown, the Museum of Natural History, Central Park and Ground Zero. And experienced snow for the first time.

 

Team Project:

They participated in a SIFE project called “The Ethics Game” which explored some ethical dilemma's facing school children.

 

Georgia Southwestern State University

Team Projects:

One of the major projects is the Georgia Pecan festival, organized by the Chamber of Commerce, where the interns helped organize four contests: hot dog eating, pumpkin carving, pumpkin seed spit and the pecan bakeoff. The interns were also put in charge of developing a marketing plan for an excursion train in the Americus area, which involved a 5-hour trip on the train to gain understanding of the project. The interns helped the team prepare for a national competition held just before they returned to India. Other SIFE activities and projects included: a middle school project teaching ethics with a board game, an elementary school where a game called “Lemonade Stand” teaches supply and demand, and a regional ethics competition where their SIFE team won first prize.

 

Classes:

International Business, Strategic Management and Promotional Marketing

 

Cultural & Volunteer Experience:

The interns helped with a car wash for the Katrina victims and collected $300 in just four hours. They helped the Rotary Club pack up things like detergents, stuffed toys and food for the soldiers in Iraq as well as the Katrina Victims. Their host family arranged for an early version of Thanksgiving, complete with all the trimmings, including their host family's relatives.

 

Additional Activities:

The interns went with their host SIFE team to the SIFE World Cup in Toronto. There they participated in the Business Internship Initiative Forum with other interns from Malaysia, India and the United States.
They also attended the SIFE Leadership Conference in Florida with the other team members.

 

Missouri State University

Business Site Visits:

The interns visited two of the business advisory board members, a company that prints t-shirts and a florist shop. The interns visited several other businesses such as the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Edward Jones Investments, UMB Bank and American Dehydrated Food (ADF).

 

Classes:

The interns attended "International Marketing' and 'Cultural Diversity in Business' classes, where the Cultural Diversity instructor gave them the opportunity to make an interactive presentation on India. Team Projects:
One of the SIFE projects taught Computer Technology to senior citizens. Another project involved helping an individual set up and obtain a state grant for a non-for-profit organization. The interns were assigned a marketing project with a pizza delivery store, which included a business strategy, slogans, pamphlets and different deals to market the store on campus.

 

Cultural & Volunteer Experience:

Special trips were made to local attractions such as Bass Pro Shop and Wildlife Museum, Bennett Springs State Park and Silver Dollar City (an 1880's theme park). During a 3-day weekend, the interns visited a SIFE team member's home.

 

Work Attachments:

The four interns worked part-time at Sodexho, in the kitchen of the cafeteria, learning the ordering process and doing inventory control.

 

Drury University

Business Site Visits:

The interns toured Walmart Headquarters in Bentonville and met with Jack Shewmaker, former COO of Walmart, at his ranch.

 

Team Projects:

One project was the screening of a movie at a center city park every weekend in summer.
Drury SIFE hosted a regional competition at which the interns represented SIFE India as one of six competing teams who brainstormed for a solution to a bankruptcy case study.

 

Classes:

'American Experience' was an interactive global studies class with general discussions on society, class, caste, and gender.

 

Cultural & Volunteer Experience:

The interns visited Silver Dollar City (an 1880's theme park) with the International Students Association. The SIFE team also attended business dinner etiquette classes arranged by the Career Center. International Students Week involved activities with students from Nicaragua and China.

 

Work Attachments:

All the interns wrote articles for the university newspaper about their experiences as interns. One of the interns worked with the charitable non-profit 'Children's Miracle Network'. Three interns worked at a convenience store.

 

Additional Activities:

First week orientation included: ice skating and bowling , a barbecue dinner, ice-cream social, fireworks, bus tour of Springfield, etc.
Drury SIFE went to the World Cup competition as the US National Champions. The interns accompanied them.