CEO Orientation

October 15, 2019

Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai organized an orientation session for students from the Columbia Experience Overseas (CEO) program on July 11, 2019.  The CEO program offers high quality internships for undergraduate students in a diverse array of private sector and non-profit organizations in a host of cities across the globe.  Students gain full-time work experience in an international location and an opportunity to immerse oneself in new and diverse experiences, connect with Columbia alumni, network with professionals, and learn about career opportunities over the summer.  

The orientation session held at the Center introduced students to Mumbai’s evolving history, geography, communities and social fabric, and important industries and economy.  It familiarized them with practical aspects of living in the city such as transport and communication, cultural events and places of interest, and safety, along with answering questions that the students had about their own stay.

Speaking of her reasons for selecting this program, Anuja Pharasi, a junior at Columbia College, remarked, “I chose to come to Mumbai as part of the CEO program to broaden my horizons in terms of how I view the global education crisis playing out in different parts of the world, and what parallels we can draw”.  She will be interning with Teach for India, an NGO working in the education sector.  Similarly, Joshua Elias, a final-year Political Science student at Columbia College, came to Mumbai to learn more about homelessness as a global issue in relation to his work for the Housing Equity Project at Columbia.  Elias is interning at Mumbai Mobile Crèches and working with the children of migrant families that live on construction sites. “It’s been a very challenging experience but a very rewarding one as well. I really see my impact while I’ve been here,” he said.