As a few of our readers know, I am plowing my way through an online MBA program at Portland State University. One of the cool aspects of this program is a series of study abroad experiences in which students sign up for a compressed 2-week course that takes place in a variety of foreign countries. The content and course descriptions are a little different for each experience, which allows a student the opportunity to pick an experience in a part of the world or with a subject matter focus in which they are interested. I was lucky enough to do two study abroad experiences this summer--one in Germany where I learned about product innovation, lean management, and green management; and one Nicaragua where I learned about micro-enterprise with a focus on micro-finance and renewable technologies.
For the Nicaragua trip a crazy opportunity to create a couple of video documentaries fell into my lap. I couldn't pass up a chance to be embedded in a culture with the primary job of collecting photos and video footage of our experience. I've posted a few of my favorite photos in previous blog posts. So today I figured I'd share one of the videos I created. The purpose of this video is for use in a student info session for the study abroad program to attract future Portland State MBA'ers to the Nicaragua trip. This was my first time recording video footage and editing/putting together a video. I learned a ton...and want to do more!
Note: This is a 9-minute video.
I created another video that will serve as part of an Indiegogo campaign in the coming months, so I'll wait until the campaign starts to share that video. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere, so even just a little support in critical areas really makes a difference.
For now I'm settled back into the day-to-day grind of the real world, but I would love to tell more stories for people who need to have their stories told. It was an incredible learning and growing experience.