Sprott student goes global

 

 

 

Two years ago, when a close friend got accepted into the Junior Team Canada (JTC) youth trade initiative, Carleton alumnus Daniel Rodriguez couldn’t think of a better way to gain a foothold in the international business community.

 

This August, Rodriguez will join 19 other students with JTC on a two-week trade mission to Panama and Ecuador to help promote Canadian industry and local youth leadership.

 

“It seemed like a great opportunity for learning and leadership development,” said Rodriguez, a recent international business graduate. “I couldn’t 
think of another program that would allow me to have more hands-on experience in international business right after graduation than [JTC}.”

 

Since its inception in 1991, the program has sent students across the globe to more than 22 countries spanning five different continents. The program aims to introduce young business hopefuls to international trade and development issues by undertaking trade missions to developing and emerging nations.

 

Spanish-speaking Rodriguez works as a desk officer for Central and South American relations with the federal government and as a part of his degree, spent the past year studying in Argentina. He said he is hoping to bolster the skills he honed during his year abroad.

 

“The language skills I earned and the cross-cultural competency I gained are invaluable for a career in international business,” Rodriguez said of his year in Buenos Aires. He added that he believes this summer’s excursion will help him develop his “presenting, multi-tasking and networking skills,” among other necessary business skills.

 

Rodriguez excelled in his program and is remembered fondly by professors.

 

“I still remember him sitting always in the front of the classroom,” said international business and marketing professor José I. Rojas-Méndez. “He was always a respectful and dedicated student.”

 

Associate dean of undergraduate studies for the Sprott School of Business Dr. Shibu Pal said the school is proud of Rodriguez’s endeavours.

 

“We are very proud of Daniel for being selected for Junior Team Canada and wish him the best in JTC’s mission to Panama and Ecuador,” Pal said. “It gives us great pleasure to see our business students succeed in achieving their goals after they graduate, and to know that we were successful in preparing them to take on the challenges of international business.”

 

Rodriguez said he praises the Sprott program for allowing him to develop his business expertise while learning a third language. He said that he is proud to be an alumnus for both Carleton and Sprott, remarking that both schools have “been good to him.”

 

The Latin American trade mission will take place Aug. 13 – 26.