This last week in Sint Maarten was a bittersweet experience. While we went on more adventures, we also had to say some pretty hard goodbyes to the people we grew close to over the course of four weeks.
Monday, we celebrated Kendall’s birthday and our last karaoke night by ending by eating Tiramisu, singing our final song: Sweet Home Alabama, and then jumping in the pool.
Tuesday and Wednesday, we had class time to discuss our findings about the island and develop a plan to tackle our campaign.
Thursday we went back to Philipsburg to say goodbye to our safe haven: Juggies. We walked the city and said goodbye to all the jewelers, store owners, and restaurants we had once visited. We also took one last walk around the market. I also got to negotiate with some of the local jewelers in order to get family deals on the rings and bracelets I bought.
Friday was our last day of class. After we said goodbye to our classroom, we went on a lovely dinner cruise where we got to sail around the island and enjoy a buffet. I was able to make some new connections and interview them. We talked about business and investment opportunities.
Saturday, we went back in time to all of the places we tried our first night going out. We started out with dinner at 3 Amigos and ended with going to a Hole in the Wall and singing back up for the live performer. Sunday morning was a moment of reflection and sorrow. As we all went to the airport, we were reminisced and said our last goodbyes to each other and our friends from the island. We listened to one of our theme songs on the way back and walked back in the airport next to where we walked out when we arrived.
As I was on my flight, I reflected on my entire experience on the island and what I learned. I learned that relationships are the most important thing in public relations. While I already knew the concept of that, it was so much easier to understand after experiencing it. Businesses have relationships with each other, and this helps the reputation of the island. It shows that people are friendly, helpful, and that they care about community. I learned about cultural differences and how people have different priorities in life. I’m the United States, people tend to care about money over community, but in the Caribbean, people value community and experiences over work. Community is important and I learned this by bonding with all of the other students on the trip. We turned into a big family and grew in experiences together. I also learned that word of mouth advertising is a big deal even though technology is growing. This experience truly showed me a new side of international public relations and allowed me to learn and apply research methods that were originally more difficult for me. This experience was something I will cherish forever.
- Taylor Kulaszewski
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