It’s hard to choose a favorite professional visit from my time with Forum-Nexus because they were all amazing and I learned a lot from each visits. I found them all to be extremely useful to my education. However since I can only choose one I will say that the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) visits was my favorite due to the fact that I am a business major and I am interested in politics.
The OECD taught me a lot about how the European Union (EU) government policies are implemented. I learned that the OECD plays a big role in the EU, ensuring that governments do not pass policies or rules that can potentially be harmful to the citizens of their nations. I learned that the OECD receives its funding through the members of the EU, and that they contribute according to their country’s GDP. I also learned that the OECD has placed mechanisms throughout the European Union that monitor behavior of government officials to ensure that the amount of corruption is reduced significantly or is absent. At the OECD visit we listened to multiple representatives give us their input on the current EU situation. I learned from them that Germany has a big influence on the EU commission because they are the largest contributors to them monetarily. I also learned that the United States of America has a big influence on the international monetary fund also known as the IMF. The OECD works with both the IMF and the EU commission to implement healthy government policies in the European Union countries.
Before coming to this professional visit to the OECD I knew nothing about it nor had I ever heard of it before. I think this is largely due to the fact that I am from the United States and we don’t really focus on what is happening in the EU because there is a lot happening in the states; however I am so glad that I was given this opportunity to learn about it because now I am able to understand government policy and economics on a global scale.
My visit to the OECD relates to my major in that all of the knowledge I have gained from this professional visit along with all of the other visits can be applied to my global business thinking. I would recommend any business major to take this opportunity to study abroad with Forum-Nexus due to the fact that they take you to professional visits that are extremely good for developing a global business mindset. After visiting the OECD I am motivated to do more research on this organization and understand more about the European Union.
By: John Kassab, 2015 Forum-Nexus alumni
