I really enjoyed getting to hear from both the speaker at the embassy and the speaker from the ACG office of sustainability. All of these women were incredibly insightful and opened up so many new perspectives to me.

I loved hearing what the sustainability office is doing and how they are incorporating so many wonderful ideas into the college as a whole. What really interested me about her presentation was when she talked about implementing the ability to bring reusable plates and cups to university dining and how students ( I believe) could get a discount on food if they brought their own materials. I really resonated with her talking about how nobody pays attention to flyers or posters on campus, and really, the only way to spread this kind of information is through word of mouth and such. Having an on-campus position at CofC, I have experienced much of the same frustration. Speaking of CofC, I believe if we implemented some of her policies, I think there would be a decent amount of people who take advantage of these policies.

Speaking of policy, when she spoke about the fundraising team’s reluctance to accept donations from questionable companies, it reminded me of a paper I wrote for my Arts Policy class about gift acceptance policies and how important these types of policies are for an organization. Setting boundaries with donors is an incredibly important- and sustainable- practice that needs to be utilized more in the nonprofit field as a whole. I also found it really interesting when she spoke about how the university tries to follow best practices of US schools and how that plays into what they program.

As for the embassy speaker, I loved her talking about the office of commerce positions that are available and how that ties into business. If I ever decide to move abroad, I could see myself potentially doing something similar. It seems to be a really fulfilling position where you get to make an actual change. I loved her talking about how she works with the film agencies to get different films authorized and produced here in Greece. Also, the way she acts as a liaison between different countries and their marketing teams. That office seems like a real asset, and I am incredibly glad that I know about it now; in the case, I am ever part of a firm that wants to expand overseas, I can reach out to them in the case of need.