Mumbai Center Hosts Columbia University Students
In the summer months, there is a spike in activities involving students from Columbia University. This June, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai once again organized an orientation session for 12 undergraduate students participating in the Columbia Experience Overseas (CEO) program. The program offers students high quality internship experiences in a diverse array of industries in Amman, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Mumbai through alumni and employer partnerships.
“This would provide me with an opportunity to experience not just a tourist or student's perspective of a different nation, as I have done in my travels before, but also to integrate myself into the business world and everyday life of a new city,” said Isabel Weil, an undergraduate at The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (Columbia Engineering), studying civil engineering and minoring in architecture. She added, “Mumbai was not the location that I thought I would end up in, for I have studied Chinese and was initially looking at returning to China, but the architectural internship opportunity attracted me to Mumbai. I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to explore a metropolis I probably would never otherwise visit.”
Weil will be interning at Ritu Nanda Design, a boutique architecture and interior design firm that does work ranging from constructing vacation houses in Goa and office spaces in Mumbai to stylizing existing apartments. “I will work with both the architecture and interior design aspects, and these projects will tie into my studies at Columbia. I hope to see how interior design has to work hand-in-hand with both architecture and civil engineering for successful structures to manifest,” she said.
The CEO program is a combination of gaining full-time work experience in an international location, immersing oneself in new, exciting experiences, connecting with alumni, networking with professionals and learning about career opportunities. “The idea of mixing an internship experience with the discovery of a new country and its cultures was very interesting to me,” said Thomas Mecattaf, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree at Columbia Engineering. “The specific internship I got an offer for (equity research) sounded like the next logical step to help me decide on my future. I expect to learn more about how investment decisions are made and how research is conducted by experts on an industry. This experience will complement some classes I have taken as a part of the operations research major,” he added.
The Center, in partnership with Columbia Alumni Association of India, also organized a send-off event for more than 40 new students who will be joining Columbia this year. According to Santana Dugad, who will be pursuing a Masters in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, “I wish to get a better and deeper understanding of concepts in psychology and also get an opportunity to explore my interests in the field. Columbia has always been a dream university and the course that Teachers College offers is among the best in the country. The kind of global and cultural exposure that I will get at Columbia is incomparable. Therefore, when Columbia offered me admission, I did not have to think twice before accepting the offer.”