International travel at an early age can have a profound impact. That's what happened for Cooper Jay. Even before finishing high school, Jay visited China, Cuba, Germany and several other European countries. Those cross-cultural experiences drove him to realize that studying international business would give him the most direct route to combining his two primary interests – business and international travel.
Before coming to the College, Jay knew that he wanted to step outside his comfort zone. He wanted a university that would enable him to experience something different and new. "From everything that I learned about the College during my search," he says, "I knew that CofC could provide all of that for me."
Right way, Jay jumped into those new experiences. As a sophomore, he signed up to study abroad – a requirement of the international business major – and spent a semester in Vienna, Austria. There, he took classes in management behavior, sustainability, immersive German and business German, along with an internship course. He succeeded in getting an internship with a well-known Austrian mergers and acquisitions firm, ACS Acquisition Services. That, he says, has been among his favorite experiences since coming to the College.
"While I was in Vienna," he says, "I made a rule that I would only speak German when talking with people. Fully immersing myself that way was very important in my experience abroad. It gave me insights into the culture and enabled me to make genuine connections with classmates and locals."
Jay returned to CofC energized. As a double major in international business and German, he complemented his studies by working for a German company with a base in South Carolina – Mankiewicz Coatings LLC.
"The international business program has been extremely advantageous for me," he says. "It's given me opportunities that have shaped me professionally and granted me connections that will last a lifetime."