This week has been such a great start to this wonderful adventure! I have been able to create great friendships, connect with my professors and TA, and have such an interactive learning experience already! I cannot believe we already have one quarter of UA in the Caribbean 2024 under our belt!
Day 1 – 5/12 Arrival Day!
I started the trip on lack of sleep, a late night of packing and an early morning for my flight! I drove from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham for my first flight. I had a connecting flight to Atlanta and from there to Saint Martin. I was very lucky and on my final flight I got to sit by a peer that was doing UAIC with me! Immediately after we landed on the island, a big group of each other found each other and it was so comforting meeting some of the group of girls I was going to be with for the next month. Everyone was instantly so easy to have conversation and it was nice knowing we were all in the same boat. We got our first ride from our driver, Andre, from the airport to Sapphire Beach Club Resort (our home away from home this month!) where we met the rest of the group throughout the evening as people arrived. I unpacked, got situated, and relaxed the rest of the night to get ready for the first week ahead!
Day 2 – 5/13 Island Tour!
First full day on the Island was a long one but a fun-filled one! We had a quick meeting in the classroom to get a general welcome and just get everyone together before we left Sapphire for a tour of the island! We went from the Dutch side, to the French and all around back to the Dutch… We saw it all! We were led by our amazing tour guide Sharella, who was a great entertainer and very educated on her Island and culture. We stopped in Marigot (The French side’s capital) where I visited a delicious smoothie truck to enjoy this stop. We had a beautiful view of the ocean and got to shop at a market there where they sold a lot filled with culture. The way these little markets work was very interesting compared to how many traditional shops work. The people selling their items like to use a lot more of an aggressive way of selling their stuff. They do their best to communicate and show you everything they have so you can walk away without buying anything – almost guilt trip you into buying something because you feel forced to listen to them and then feel you need to pay them back. I thought that was intriguing to think about in a Public Relations perspective because of how they go about building that relationship with customers. Since it's not so many frequent buyers coming to them and more one time tourists they won't see again, they don’t care so much about building a strong relationship with the customers. They just want to sell something and make their money.
After Marigot we made a stop at an “Iguana Zoo” and got to see, feed, and even pet an iguana! We also got to drive around Philipsburg (the Dutch side’s Capital), then made a stop to look at a beautiful view of the island and coastline. We also got to sit on a statue's lap and whisper in his ear for some money and land… I am still waiting to see if I got any. We finished up our tour at a lunch restaurant that was located right on the beach and next to the airport where we could watch airplanes land and take off! That was also so cool! Before dinner at Roma, we rested up some, but then continued to wrap up the day with a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant in Jordan Village.
Day 3 – 5/14 Class and Beach!
Tuesday was a fairly relaxing day. We met for class and got some good base information from the staff at Sapphire that has been and will continue to be beneficial as we continue building their campaign to help their brand. We got a tour of the hotel and found the laundry room, which will definitely come in handy! After all that, the day was free! So of course, we spent it at the beach! I treated myself – along with some other classmates – to some nice beach chairs. We ate a yummy lunch and had a wonderful long day there before our dinner at Fat Tony’s. It was a great filling dinner with a wonderful staff that was sure to welcome UAIC again! They did a great job with building relationships with their consumers. I could tell there have been connections already formed with our professors, especially Dr. Hayes! They also were excited to form new relationships with all of us students which was really cool and made that experience even more enjoyable. This dinner was a very important dinner to me when it came to forming a strong relationship with my professors. A few others and I stayed a little longer after the rest left to enjoy the live music. We did a lot of talking with Dr. Hayes and Mr. Huff to get to know more about professional careers in different areas of marketing, advertising, and public relations. It was really interesting hearing their insight and having that time to get more connected with them.
Day 4 – 5/15 Catamaran!
This has been one of the most fun days so far! We had an early morning to pile in a van to head to a different resort where we would be picked up by our boat! When they got all of our information and the boat was ready, we set sail! With all of us on one boat it was a great bonding experience for everyone, we got to spend all day in the ocean and sun, it was the most perfect day! I got to snorkel some at a couple of our stops and it was awesome! I was able to swim down 12 feet to pick up a shell that ended up having a crab in it (crazy!). Then, at a different stop – Divi Little Bay – I found a ton of fish, an old anchor at the bottom of the ocean, saw scuba divers below me and a sunken submarine! That was very cool! Once we came back ‘home’, I had a relaxing night in, after yet another long, but very fun day!
Day 5 & 6 – 5/16 & 5/17 Class, Pool, and ‘Family Dinner’!
Thursday and Friday were pretty similar for me this past week. Woke up for class, spent the rest of the day at the pool, then freshened up for a nice dinner with everyone! Class was super nice because I was getting ready to start some routine in my life! It was also nice because we finally started digging into the real meat of class. We started working with our groups to dive into research for Sapphire and get to know what we don’t know about what we need to do to help them! We have also been able to start looking into social media and how it all works with algorithms and the logistics and what to do with the statistics that we can get from our accounts. We started discussing how it is important to relate to the target audience and the brand while using social media as well. All of which is important and will be very applicable!
After working hard in the classroom, we relaxed by the pool. I ran some errands to get some food at the local market before dinner. On Thursday we went to an amazing sushi restaurant that was anime themed and Friday we ate at an outstanding steakhouse!
-- XO Claire Borene (UAIC 2024)
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