The InterLink Program
A couple of months ago my friends and classmates, Jonathan Cherry, Jenny Field and I co-founded what we call the InterLink Program (ILP). This program is designed to be a cultural match up of International Students with students from the US. To quote the program definition document:
Yes, embarrassment is not my favorite feeling. We believe that there is a lot of knowledge-sharing that can happen and this program is designed to facilitate this transfer.
"The idea is to provide International Students with a defined point of contact to answer any questions that may arise. Questions such as 'What kind of tip is appropriate?', or 'What should I bring to this type of party?' can often come up. Without proper insight, it can be easy to make the wrong decision or feel embarrassed."
Yes, embarrassment is not my favorite feeling. We believe that there is a lot of knowledge-sharing that can happen and this program is designed to facilitate this transfer.
We got a pretty good response to the program and now have 7 international students, including myself, as founding members. What's awesome is that the US students are even more enthusiastic. We had many of them proactively come up to us and express interest in being part of the ILP before we even announced it. As part of this program, each International student is paired up with a local buddy. Each pair is advised to meet up once a week, exchange thoughts, share insights and, if nothing else, just enjoy a nice lunch/dinner or a round of drinks. We also try and meet monthly as an entire group to enhance the knowledge-sharing and have some fun. Most recently, last weekend, we planned an international potluck dinner in Jonathan's apartment complex. The turnout was fantastic as we had people from even outside the ILP bring a local dish to the feast. I made an Indian dessert called Kheer and, considering it was the first time I cooked anything, I think it came out fine (a bit too sweet to be honest, but hey, it's a dessert :) 
What's funny is that I haven't been able to formally 'meet up' with my buddy Kyle (until today). We do, however, take the same bus to school so we get to catch up on stuff at least 3 times a week, so that's pretty cool. We're all excited about this little program, especially Jonathan. He got us registered as an official student group on campus. Next, we will apply for funding for some really cool events/outings that we've planned. A little birdie told us that the powers-that-be prefer giving out funds to smaller student groups. And groups with international/cultural influences. Now isn't that just great?
----
This post is also available on the official Leeds MBA Experience Blog at http://www.cuboulderblogs.com/mba.
