US Placement Program: Arriving in LA

Even though it wasn’t my first time visiting Los Angeles, the US Placement Program has given me an invaluable insight into the city. For me, the opportunity to work in a foreign city while at the University of Sydney is unparalleled. Not only has it given me greater professional experience working in a globalised environment, I’ve also been thrust into situations where I can grow and develop myself as a person. While it might have been difficult to leave my family and friends, I am nevertheless excited for the bonding and camaraderie I will develop living in an unfamiliar environment with 19 other students.

One of the first things I learnt was that travelling by yourself is never easy. Even though I had just got off a 14-hour flight, my brain was going into overload as I tried to process my new surroundings. Having made the decision to not buy the grossly overpriced phone plans at the airport, not having access to social media was the least of my worries as catching the Uber had just gotten so much more difficult. After finally being saved by the LAX free Wi-Fi and managing to claim the best bed in the apartment, I realised I had no food, no water, and most importantly, no internet.

Having no idea where to go and no one around to ask for directions, I decided to take a leap of faith and venture down the first street I saw. Even though I was on the verge of collapsing from hunger, walking down the streets of Santa Monica made me realise why Los Angeles is referred to as the ‘City of Angels’. The wide boulevard, the blissful sunshine, and the tall, dancing palm trees created a picturesque view that seemed like something you’d find on a postcard or one of Snoop Dogg’s music videos. If I did die from starvation and become an angel, maybe I’d like to live here too.

As I am writing this now, it is already the fourth week of work. Having ticked over the half way mark, I’ve already had many phenomenal experiences such as climbing up Mount Hollywood in the dark, riding electronic scooters at nearly 30km/hr down the streets of Santa Monica, and not feeling guilty about eating burgers because it’s America. But amongst such precious memories, my first day is one I will never forget.

While ‘getting off the plane’ and ‘checking into my apartment’ seem dull and mundane compared to my other experiences, they nevertheless marked the beginning of a journey. It wasn’t just the beginning to a six-week program conducted by the University of Sydney Business School, it was the kick-start to my marketing career, and it was the beginning of new friendships. It does seem clichéd to say this, but undertaking international study and work initiatives such as the US Placement Program is a choice you cannot go wrong with. Such opportunities are truly once-in-a-lifetime, and I hope many more students can have the same experience I had.

Written by Weize Tong

Life in Los Angeles: Week 2 of my Industry Placement Program

Eric Xu is an undergraduate student at the University of Sydney Business School. He is currently in the United States as part of the Los Angeles Placement Program, offered by the Business School in partnership with the United States Studies Centre.

We’re two weeks into the program and the time has simply disappeared. Our days and nights have been jam packed, so I’m writing this on the bus to uni tonight (or college, if you’re American).

Buses are kind of a menagerie of the weird and wonderful, with surprisingly eloquent individuals wearing fox skin hats on a hot day and performing monologues at the back of the bus, ranting about the disparity between the rich and poor; to the older man wearing 3-D glasses for sunnies. But hey, we’re in LA and who knows, maybe 6-D is the next big thing.

The program has been exhausting, but I’m having the time of my life. Even when I get up in the morning, way too groggy to do anything but just sit there gormless, I pinch myself to remember that I’m here studying and working in the City of Angels. It’s an exhilarating thought, and my biggest fear is getting complacent and not making the most of my time here.

I’ve been trying therefore to travel as much as possible, and experience as much of America as I can. I’m not going to bore you with all the details of the two weeks travelling around America with my friends on the program, Nicola, Dan and Edison after my trip to Chicago, but suffice it to say, we had an awesome time. We explored New York, rode out a couple of ups and downs at Disneyworld, nerded it out at Harry Potter World in Universal Studios, celebrated New Years in San Francisco, and drove down to LA. It was so intense, but so much fun. After that, we got straight into the swing of things with our first class at UCLA.

On our way to bike the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Literally soaking up the Brooklyn Bridge in New York

Class
Most of our week is pretty structured, with work from Monday to Thursday, and class three nights a week. On Monday nights, Heather takes us through what we need to do for our research assignment, so it’s a good chance to hang out with the others and catch up on all that's happening.

Our Tuesday and Wednesday classes are run by professors at UCLA, who teach us about doing business in the US and leadership communication strategies. Although they sound fluffy, the classes here are actually really interesting, as they’re so different to those at home. Run akin to seminars, there’s about 30-40 people per class, so it’s much more interactive and we get cold called all the time.

Work
I’m working with two other students, Lisa and Nathan, at Cappello Capital, a boutique investment bank based right across the road from the Santa Monica beach and a five minute walk from the pier. The view from the office is amazing, sometimes it’s hard not to get distracted when we’re trying to learn financial modelling or build lists of potential strategic partners for various transactions. We sit at the Australia desk, surrounded by buckets of Vegemite and boomerangs. Everyone here is cool; they’re fascinated with anything “Awwssie”, especially when we tell them about drop bears and riding kangaroos to school. Weird accents and even stranger words are a constant source of banter with the guys there, so we broaden our accents and turn up the bogan sometimes.

The view from the board room

Living
I’m living with three other boys, which is great. The four of us are generally having a good time. In saying that, however, our place looks quite similar to what it looked like when we first moved in, actually, with a bare cupboards and an empty fridge.

However, we’ve made some changes around the place; stocking the pantry with a pack of chips, microwavable popcorn and some UCLA Jell-O moulds (how do these even exist?!). Just the essentials really. Oh, we also bought brown rice and whole grain spaghetti to stay somewhat health conscious.

Well, that’s entry two of Eric’s not so wise words: Get organised. There’s a ton of work coming up and I’ve been remiss in keeping on top of things, so I'll learn from my mistakes and get with the program.

What happens in Vegas

After only a few weeks here in Los Angeles, it was time to take advantage of the long weekend for Martin Luther King Day and head to Vegas. My colleagues from my internship with M&C Saatchi were full of recommendations, so we headed off to Vegas with high hopes for the weekend.

The canals at the Venetian – the ceiling is actually painted to look like a bright sunny day

The Iconic Caesar’s Palace

The Bellagio – the fountain is spectacular – where’s Danny Ocean

The opulence of Vegas truly has to be seen to be believed. Where else would you see 5 star hotels that recreate Venice, New York, Egypt or Paris. The financing required for resorts with such attention to detail is all the more impressive when you consider that many of these hotels were funded with junk bonds. The New York, NewYork rollercoaster was fairly rickety, and several of us ended up with bruises at the end, but definitely worth the novel experience of weaving in and out of a building.

The New York New York rollercoaster towers over Statue of Liberty.

That night we went to one of Vegas’ megaclubs, Hakkasan, for a Calvin Harris concert. After being pushed, squeezed and trampled, we made it to the front for a truly epic performance.

Waking up in pitch black the next morning, we could be forgiven for thinking it was still night time. Actually, it was 1pm in the afternoon, so we decided to hit up one of the famous hotel buffets for dinner. Satiated with almost 3 hours of bottomless drinks and food for $50 at the Aria hotel, we headed to a Cirque du Soleil show.

Impressive Cirque du Soleil performance, made all the more real by a few falls

Sunday was a trip to the Grand Canyon. Pun intended, it was grand. The photos can’t do justice to it, it truly is an impressive sight.

Before coming to Vegas, I’d expected that I would overhype it. But Vegas exceeded my expectations in every way. The food, the extravagance, the quirkiness, all created an amazing weekend for us. We’ll come crashing back to reality on Tuesday but for now, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Patrick Ward is an undergraduate student at the University of Sydney Business School. He is currently in the United States as part of the Los Angeles Placement Program, offered by the Business School in partnership with the United States Studies Centre.

Return to Los Angeles

Patrick Ward is an undergraduate student at the University of Sydney Business School. He is currently in the United States as part of the Los Angeles Placement Program, offered by the Business School in partnership with the United States Studies Centre.

It’s only been 4 months since I was last in the United States, but this trip couldn’t have come sooner. Ever since being accepted into the program, I’ve been counting down the days until I can return to the self-professed “land of the free, home of the brave”. America has a certain dynamism that makes it one of the most exciting countries for business. Earlier this year, I experienced the academic facets of America and now I relish the opportunity to focus on the business aspects of America.

LA/DC Industry Placement Program Predeparture Session

Although travel is one of the perks of this program, for me, living your life in a different city can be just as interesting. Everything that seemed mundane in Sydney like catching public transport, going to work, or even eating out, is now a new and vibrant experience.

That’s not to say the tourist side of the program won’t be fun. These two weeks before the program will add to my current LA tourist activities, such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Runyon Canyon and the hike to the Hollywood sign.

Hollywood Walk of Fame. Just watch you don’t bump into the throngs of tourists covering the streets of Hollywood. 

The view from Runyon canyon. If you go for jogs enough here, you may just spy a celebrity.

The hike to the Hollywood sign. Not for the faint-hearted, it’s a long trek in the intense LA heat.

Also, like any 90s kid, I had to visit the OC and the iconic Newport Pier. Like many friends who’ve made the trip before me, I was crushed to realise most of the TV show wasn’t even filmed in the OC.

Newport Pier. No sign of Ryan or Marissa

I’ve now been in Los Angeles for a couple of days and getting into the swing of LA life. I know the program is going to present a hefty challenge in terms of managing work, study and social life over this summer, but this opportunity, all clichés aside, really is once-in-a-lifetime.

The city of big shoulders and the deep dish pizza

Eric Xu is an undergraduate student at the University of Sydney Business School. He is currently in the United States as part of the Los Angeles Placement Program, offered by the Business School in partnership with the United States Studies Centre.

The last few days before my departure were hectic, but sitting here at 4am in a hotel room in Chicago, listening to the city starting to sputter to life makes it all worth it - in a weird jetlagged way.

Here’s the first of Eric’s not so wise words: Get started early. I literally booked my flights a week before I left and it was a frantic scrabble right up to the flight. In the week before I left, there were three days of training which went over the essentials that we needed to know. First, we were shown some excel wizardry, and then we went over the more manageable stuff, like setting goals and getting motivated to give a killer presentation.

I’m travelling for a bit before the program starts, so my first stop was Shanghai. It was actually the first time travelling by myself - normally I go with friends or family, but I feel like I took a big step of independence this time. Actually, I took a lot of them at a run because I almost missed my flight and I did that half run/half jog thing that you do when you have to go places fast but you want to look cool at the same time. I eventually started running in earnest because they were asking for an “Eric Zooo” to hurry up and get on the plane. That was the first time that happened to me too - a day for firsts it seems. Remember that first piece of advice? Yeah.

I don’t have all too much to say about Shanghai, but it was mainly eating and being sick. I’ve got this great ability to get a cold, start to get over it, then get a fever instead. So I had to change my Chicago flight to a day after my intended one, but I got to the airport early this time. Remember advice numero uno.

As soon as I got out of Chicago’s airport, I headed out to get a deep dish pizza with one of my roommates in LA, Dan. It was so good, oh so cheesy, but so very filling. The best way to describe it is like a big pizza pie, and then more. We’re still trying to get used to the tipping and tax being separate things to the price, and I’m pretty sure we’ve offended a couple of waiters already.

Dan and I getting overly excited by the deep dish pizza goodness

Chicago has this cold and serene beauty that is occasionally hard to remember whilst you’re being buffeted down the street, but look up once in a while and take in the amazing architecture that dominates the skyline. A girl told us it was so cloudy because vampires lived here, but then again we convinced that same girl that drop bears existed, so…

The John Hancock building

Starting to work and study here this month is a really exciting and unnerving prospect. I guess it hasn’t really sunk in properly yet, as there’s so much to see and do before we even get to LA. At the moment all I can think of is where to get a Pizookie and Chicago hotdog. You can see we have our priorities sorted.

This blog was originally published on the United States Studies Centre blog.