Author: Brooklyn Kriger | Major: Supply Chain Management | Semester: January Intercession 2025

Group Photo in front of the Panama Canal

Over the January intercession, I was able to travel to Panama City, Panama and spend two weeks studying abroad. While choosing my study abroad location, I decided to look into Central America due to its rich culture, being near the equator, has lots of diversity, nature qualities, landmarks, and it being affordable. Being able to start traveling at a young age, I knew that I wanted to learn about a new part of the world that I have not seen or heard a lot about. The program I chose was accompanied by learning about all different things about international business, supply chain, economics, and marketing which is up my alley of study and personal interests. With this trip being only two weeks, we were able to have each day jampacked with different companies, sightseeing adventures, cultural visits, and time on our own to explore.

One of my favorite experiences while abroad was the Panama Canal Tour. In my supply chain classes at the University of Arkansas, we have thoroughly talked about this canal and how significant it is to be shipping and receiving in the United States but visiting it and hearing our guide talk about the smaller unique facts was beneficial to my learning. We were able to deeply learn about how authority was moved from the United States control to Panamanian control and how big of an impact that had on not only the Panamanian economy but their people as well. It generates $3 billion in toll revenues annually which contributes about 6% to Panama’s GDP and boosts major trading nations GDPs like the United States and China. We specifically went to the Miraflores Locks which handles 40% of all transits annually. A fun fact is when there are lots of ships in line to go through the Panama Canal or if water levels are low that day and only a certain number of ships can go through, the boats place bids to get to the top of the list to go through. These bids can get up to $4 million dollars to get a slot to go through the canal. We went to the Isalbert Fruit industry which is known for its pineapples. Panamanian pineapples are in high demand especially the MD2 variety and are highly valued internationally. We were able to learn how they ship their pineapples overseas, the importance of sizes, sweetness, and the overall pineapple look to different countries across the world. As a group, we were able to be quizzed on the different sizes and sweetness, pick a pineapple, and plant a pineapple seed. As a supply chain major, hearing the importance of the state the pineapples are in before shipping and understanding the state they need to be in if you transport via plane, bus, or ship was such a full circle moment to see how much supply chain does affect the producer.

Overall, my study abroad experience was very important to my learning and gave me a different perspective on business practices, supply chain implications, and allowed me to see the whole picture. If I were about to go on a study abroad trip for the first time, I would make sure to attend a trip with its topic that aligns closely with either your career interests, personal interests, or something that can excel your learning and understanding of your academic aspirations. The study abroad that I attended was under international business, but it had a lot of supply chain implications that aligned with career and academic aspirations. The location is important to think about and look at but from my understanding, I believe that the study abroad topic is far more important. I would say not to stress yourself out about being in a foreign place before you leave to go, but to take the time to be excited about the experience. While you are there make sure to journal, try every food (even if you are a picky eater, you never know unless you try), go out of your way to talk to new people and to be friendly, and do your research on companies, people, foods, before you leave so that you are able to ask good questions and be attentive in different meetings.