There and Back Again: Spain, Europe, and International Business

This story is part of the Student Voices series, which provides a firsthand perspective of the student experience at Georgetown McDonough.

Here, Marcelo Presa (MBA’24) reflects on his experience in Georgetown McDonough’s MBA program, how his study abroad and the Global Business Experience enhanced his perspective of global business, and the key lessons he plans to carry with him throughout his career. 

My Journey So Far

After serving nine years in the U.S. Army, I wanted a change. I had been a leader in the military, but I realized that I had no experience in the “ordinary” world. For this and other reasons, I decided that I wanted to pursue an MBA. In my mind, learning about business, networking, and leadership in the corporate world would ease my transition from an officer in the Army to a business leader. 

After deciding that I wanted to dedicate two years to earning an MBA, I had to choose where. For the first time in almost a decade, I was able to choose where I wanted to live – and I didn’t take this decision lightly. After considering many options, I decided that Georgetown University had everything that I wanted – a highly-regarded MBA program, the ability to network in Washington, D.C. (where I already lived), and opportunities to enrich my international experience through the study abroad program and the Global Business Experience (GBE) consulting projects.

Getting There: Study Abroad

Most of my family had either visited or lived in many of the popular countries in Europe, but I had yet to set foot on the continent. That’s not to say I didn’t have any international experience, though. I was born in Peru and moved to the United States when I was 13. Though some people join the Army to “travel the world,” I didn’t have that opportunity. Instead, throughout my nine years in the Army, I traveled within the United States and lived in six different states. I wanted to see more of the world and knew studying abroad would give me the chance to combine my business education and desire to explore different places.

Again, I had to answer the question of where to study abroad, but this time I had to choose the combination of which country and school. After some consideration, I chose to study abroad at Esade in Barcelona, Spain. In some ways, the decision was easy. First, I’m a native Spanish speaker which made my experience extremely easy from the beginning. Second, Spain and Latin America share some history and cultural similarities. That made Spain an almost natural choice, but I also had to consider the school. Esade is one of the best business schools in the world and the courses offered during my study abroad semester were extremely interesting. Also, Barcelona is one of the more “international” cities in the world, and the MBA cohorts were extremely culturally diverse (less than 5% of students were from Spain). 

From the beginning, I had a good feeling about my time at Esade. During orientation, I had the chance to meet the rest of the study abroad group and we quickly bonded over our desire to experience Spanish culture. I’ll say that being one of the few Spanish speakers made me popular, especially when we went to eat, drink, or visit the many cultural sites around the city. 

At Esade, I took classes in marketing, leadership, data analysis, and monetization. I found the monetization class taught by Professor Marco Bertini to be extremely fascinating. I must admit that before taking his class, I didn’t know much about how monetization or pricing worked but I now have a newfound understanding of value and how products should be priced.

Classes were just one part of my study abroad experience. It seemed that every weekend there was something new to do. Some of my favorite experiences were trying new restaurants with new friends, visiting one of the many museums, or taking a hike to Tibidabo (the mountain overlooking Barcelona). Also, travel within the Schengen area is easy and relatively inexpensive, so much so that I was able to travel to more than 10 countries. 

At the end of my semester abroad, I returned to the United States with new friends, experiences, knowledge, and a greater understanding of Spanish culture. 

Traveling Back to Spain and Consulting for Telefónica 

Georgetown McDonough’s GBE is an opportunity to put all the business knowledge to practice by consulting with an international company on a specific problem. It involves working in groups of four to six peers and maintaining constant communication with the company’s team, which could be on the other side of the world. The final product is an in-person presentation at the host company. 

My original plan was to study abroad in Europe and complete my GBE project in Asia but, alas, it was not meant to be. There were many options for projects to work on, but one caught my attention immediately. The title was “Generative AI and Cybersecurity Strategy” with Telefónica Tech in Madrid, Spain. The project seemed ideal for me, as I was one of the few persons in my class (perhaps the only) with technical and operational experience in cybersecurity. I simply couldn’t refuse the opportunity. Plus, I want to continue my career in cyber so this was the perfect occasion to mix my experience with my newfound knowledge of business and strategy.

Every decision incurs an opportunity cost. In my case, I chose to travel back to Spain instead of a different continent. The advantage was that I would be in familiar territory, figuratively and literally, having spent seven years in cyber operations with the Army and having just returned from my semester abroad in Spain. Looking back, returning to Spain for my GBE project was a great decision, both for the project and for me, personally.

Although I was the subject matter expert on cybersecurity in my group, the GBE project is a team effort and everyone on my team helped make the project a success. I particularly appreciated that we had a diverse team, both culturally and professionally. The project is meant to be business-focused – it is a business school after all – but cybersecurity is a field where technical knowledge is necessary. Our final brief went according to plan and I truly believe we helped address a problem for Telefónica Tech. 

And Back Again? Spain And International Business

As I reminisce on my experiences during my time at Georgetown McDonough, I can say that I really enjoyed all my time in Spain. I learned about Spanish culture and customs. I ate delicious food (fun fact: paella is from Valencia). I made friends from around the world. But I also learned how to conduct business in a multicultural setting, where English is the second language for most people. I truly learned the meaning of global business, where there is a six-hour difference between the people in a meeting.

As I embark on the next chapter of my life, I remember that one of the reasons for going back to school was to experience the “ordinary” world, but my experience was extraordinary. I plan to continue my career in cyber, perhaps more on the leadership/management side and perhaps I will venture back to Spain – I really wouldn’t mind some more paella.

-Marcelo Presa (MBA’24)