International Business and Trade at Richland College, is actually an associate degree program that teaches you all about the inner workings of international commerce.
We're one of the only programs in north Texas that actually is accredited, and issues both certificates and an associates degree. We also have an articulation with Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland... where a student can complete the associates, and go over there and complete a bachelors.
The International Business and Trade Program was a great beginning, for me. I like it, because I'm able to meet people from other cultures, and we can learn from one another -- how businesses are conducted --in our home countries.
When a student completes a program -- what they have -- they have the business skills to go to work in companies, in a variety of areas, whether it be marketing, sales, customer service -- having that global understanding and experience, will help them be a better contributor to that company.
I'm going for an associates in International Business and Trade. One more semester and I'll be graduating, but even now, I'm very confident that I can help the smaller businesses to go international.
We want to make sure to have professors who have real business experience, in the international space, and they take that experience, and what they do is they translate it in the classroom, into what we call "the tips and the tricks, of the trade". Things that the student really needs to understand, when they go out into the business world.
I used to work for an international-trading company. Every company has to decide whether that company should go international, or not. There are a lot of things that you need to consider: shipping, how to do the market research, and as of this knowledge. become very confident in any culture.
Richland College has helped me a lot. It has given me the tools to improve my communication skills, and my time management, and at the same time to encourage myself to take risks. Teachers and advisers are really committed to helping students to achieve their goals.