My name is Chris Carlton and I am a student at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. My areas of study include management, marketing, and entrepreneurship. I plan on graduating next summer but before I do I will be tackling some unique independent study abroad assignments.

A few months ago I had the privilege of attending a lecture given by Dr. Choton Basu, one of our most distinguished faculty members. He brought up a great point about living abroad that stuck with me. He talked about how we (the students he was lecturing) all had an American point of view of the world by never living abroad, and by doing that, we were putting ourselves at a huge disadvantage because Americans only account for roughly five percent of the world’s population. This got me thinking. I was always the kid that wanted to study abroad, but too chicken to actually go with it.  A year until graduation, what have I got to lose? Study abroad will help me grow as a person and have a more holistic and connected vision of the world.

The assignment has two main components:

1. I will be bringing a high def camcorder down to conduct interviews with business owners and managers in Buenos Aires. I will be concentrating on the stuff that is happening on the street level – farmers markets, flea markets, etc. I am doing this project in conjunction with our Director of Global Business Resources, Choton Basu. We want to find characteristics that all the businesses have in common to see if there is anything that companies back in the U.S. could potentially benefit from.

Choton is passionate about teaching people to view the world from a global perspective. He has been on sabbatical for the past year trying to get funding for his innovative new education platform, Education 360

2. The other component of this trip involves doing research to find a demand that is not currently being met in Buenos Aires. I will be doing this by surveying as many of the 20,000 or so American expats residing in BsAs (Buenos Aires) as I can to find something they “miss from home.” If there is enough demand, we will attempt to start importing these products (according to a McKinsey & Company report, this will most likely be some type of food). I will be conducting this project with Allen Oelschlaeger who also has the international business bug. All three of us are excited to get our hands dirty and learn as much as we can from the gorgeous city of Buenos Aires.

I chose BsAs for three reasons: economy, culture, and language. After January 2002 with the collapse of the Argentine peso (which in 2001 was 1 to 1 with the U.S. dollar and is now roughly 3 to 1), the once-expensive city became one of the world’s great bargains for visitors.

Created by immigrants from Spain, Italy, and Germany, you get the best food, architecture, and customs from all three. Add to that the city’s other basic attractions: pleasant weather, an efficient mass transit system, and relatively low crime, and you’ve got yourself an ideal location to live and study abroad.

With the Hispanic population significantly increasing in the United States over the next half century, it makes sense to go to a country that will help me learn how to speak their language.