A (not so) Brief Introduction

Here it is folks - my blog about my entire experience, from start to finish, about my trip to Portugal. What am I going to be doing in Portugal you ask?


Well, I'm taking an International Management class at the University of Baltimore this semester as one of my business electives. For the past year and half the undergrad and graduate Int'l Mgmt classes at UB have been working with the Universidade do Minho and the Institute of Ethnomusicology at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa to help Mr. José Lúcio in his dream to create a museum - Center for the Portuguese Guitar/Cordophones (sounds a little funny when translated, I know.) The museum will display his collection of 300+ traditional Portuguese stringed instruments, 3000+ traditional Portuguese vinyl records, and his literary estate of 1000+ sheet music books and books about Portuguese music history. This collection is valued at over $1.5M - hell of a lot of equipment for a civilian.


The mission of the museum is multifaceted but essentially it aims to preserve the musical culture in Portugal through education "in the context of human capability building." The museum will not only educate the public but it will also train the under and unemployed to be skilled crafts people (repairing instruments), digitization technicians (all of the vinyls and sheet music are being put into digital format) and museum tour guides.


What I'll be doing in Portugal, aside from living the dream, is evaluating the business plan that they've put together over the past 3 semesters and finding any flaws with it - a business start-up consultant if you will. Additionally, I will be crafting a way for this non-profit (NGO: non-governmental organization) to create a revenue stream. In other words, we'll be coming up with business ideas for the museum to create a for-profit arm of the business to support the non-profit end of things.


A brief background:


I am incredibly stoked on the idea of this trip and this museum. I have been waiting (without even knowing it) for an opportunity like this for quite a long time now. For those of you that know me but may not know much about my career interests (read: passion), one thing that I am a true believer in is Social Entrepreneurship - taking the problems of the world out of the hands of government and NGO's and placing them in the hands of profit and social responsibility driven businesses. This may seem cynical but, in my eyes, government is simply too bureaucratic and NGO's are too . . . Utopian and nice? to get things done. Put a problem in the hands of an efficient business, led by someone who truly cares, and the movers and the shakers will move and shake and the problem gets solved. There's an incentive beyond helping people there. You're helping people and making a little coin doing it - not a bad thing if you ask me.


This project is definitely something that I'm interested in because it has to do with music and its preservation. It places a value on music and the arts and culture and history and that's what I dig about it. Beyond the music aspect of things, however, what I'm really digging is the business consulting aspect. I've been interested in starting a sustainability consulting firm - showing businesses how they can save money by being more environmentally friendly - when I'm finished with school. Magically (read: the universe is looking out for me), I've been presented with several opportunities this semester to explore my interest in consulting, this being one of them. However there's one small obstacle:


The Logistics:


When I came to UB a perfect storm was brewing in my life. I began to realize that no one was going to make my life for me and that I needed to do make it myself. I began to realize what I wanted to do with my life. I began to realize how critical of a role my education was going to play in getting me to where I wanted to go. In essence, I began to get some self-awareness. Since I've been at UB I have not received a grade below a B+ (yes, statistics got me good) and currently have a cumulative GPA of 3.75. Yes, I do pick things up quickly but you would never know that judging by the 2.notgood GPA that I had leaving UMD. The difference is that when I'm in class now I'm not trying to force myself to pay attention because I'm "supposed to." Now I pay attention because I know that I'll need this information when I get into my career field. And when I'm in a class that I know I probably wont use I know now that I need to get an A in it so I can get into a good grad school, or so I can tell a company that I'm applying for that I graduated with honors.


The reason that I bring all this up is not to say "look at me, look how good I'm doing now" it's to make it clear that I try extremely hard because I know that it will help me get to where I want to go - so that I have the tools to SAVE THE WORLD!! As a result of my hard work the past three semesters I've been offered a scholarship that will pay for $500 of my, roughly, $750 flight to Portugal - as of October 2nd (the day my trip begins) I will officially be a Wright Global Business Scholar. However, my professor has estimated that I will need $1,200 above and beyond that scholarship to pay for general expenses on the trip (remaining airfare, meals, stays at the hostel, train fare etc.) which is not to mention the expenses that I will incur getting ready for the trip (expedited passport, mandatory travel and health insurance etc.)


My Uncle Sam, the adventurer, has instilled in me, over the years, a belief that you should go do what inspires you and the details, like money and such, will work themselves out somehow. That is one of the many reasons that I've decided to go ahead with this trip despite the fact that I don't have the money for it. I tucked enough money away this summer that I could pay for some of my living expenses while working only about 15-20 hours/week this semester - so I could focus on school. I plan to use that money to pay for my expenses on this trip despite the fact that I will be coming home with very little to live on the rest of the semester. I don't think that I should pass up a once in a lifetime opportunity like this simply because I'll be tight on money and have to pick up extra hours when I get back.


Where you come in:


I plan to keep this blog updated about everything Portugal. When I get my passport, I'll let you know. When I book my ticket, I'll let you know. When I take off, touch down, get to the hostel, get to the museum, meet Mr. Lucio, eat a delicious meal, bask in the sun on a white sandy beach with a gorgeously dark complected exotic Portuguese woman by my side and a tropical drink in my hand, I'll let you know. I'll paint a vivid picture of my stay in Portugal with my words. I'll supplement my words with photographs and I'll supplement my photographs with videos. Your subscription to my blog is entirely free. I will be blogging because I've recently stumbled upon a new found love for writing.


If at any point before, during or after my trip you become inspired by my blog, let me know. Yes I will be setting up a place where you can donate to my cause - perhaps you're so inspired by my journey to improve myself and the world that you'll want to pay for one of my dinners, maybe a night in the hostel. Perhaps you get sooo inspired that you want to pay for my train ticket from Lisbon two hours North to the museum. Buttttttt, if you're inspired and broke or don't want to show it monetarily then let me know. This is not a public tv pledge drive - you do not have to pledge any monetary support to show that you support me. If you're digging what I'm doing, let me know. Under each blog there is a place where you can leave comments. I would LOVE more than anything to hear what you're thinking. If you're digging what I'm doing then let a friend know, one that doesn't even know me. If you're digging what I'm doing then give my phone number, (410) 703.9690, to a gorgeous 20/30 something (preferably female - but I'm open to suggestion) and let them know that I'm single!!! Okay maybe that's a bit weird.


I hope I get lots of support from you all - I'm gonna need it. I have a LOT to do between now and October 2nd though, so I'm gonna run now. Wish me luck!




'Til next time swashbucklers,




Mi.