Living Entrepreneurship Blog / Global & Multicultural

Encounters with BRIC

This blog post was written by BRIC participants Swathi Nachiappan and Thomas Smith during week 7 of the BRIC Program…

Reaching the halfway point of BRIC, we, Swathi and Tommy, as Student Leaders for the week had one intention: energy! We needed more of it. In order to re-energize our group, we decided that we would host some physical activities throughout the week.

Any exercise or physical activity that gets the heart rate up and the blood flowing and releases endorphins. This, in turn, raises energy levels and gives you more stamina. We wanted to build up that stamina so that we would continue strong for the next half of our BRIC experience.

On Tuesday, we started off really well with a middle school-esque gym class hosted by yours truly. We had one of the highest turnouts since August with twenty people in attendance! With 80s workout music in the background, we did some stretching and a basic body circuit workout. Everyone kept each other motivated throughout the 30 minutes and we powered through as a team.

On Wednesday, CET arranged for the cohort to be instructed by a Bollywood choreographer in a studio! Many of us were at the edge of our comfort zone but quickly overcame our fears as we sweat, laughed, and supported each other through a rigorous dance routine. Look out for us next semester at Babson’s annual AMAN show!

On Thursday, Shreya and Disha were kind enough to plan out a Bollywood Zumba class. Many of us had never done Zumba before, so it was a very cool experience to challenge ourselves. We worked out to numerous Bollywood songs and had a great time.

By the end of the week, what we realized is that a cohort that sweats together, stays together! Having these workout sessions really brought the group closer. This is extremely vital during the halfway point of BRIC because it is necessary that we support each other through this amazing yet intense journey. BRIC is such an incredible experience as a whole, but sometimes can get overwhelming, so using this theme of energy, we were able to release any tensions or frustrations and get ready to start fresh again.

Leading off of that, we also facilitated reflection on the first half of our travels. Reflection allows us to learn from our past and in turn, better the second half of our travels. As we had our check-ins with each individual, we made it a point to talk about our thoughts on the past seven weeks and what each person’s goal was for the future. Overall, there was one theme emerging: not only did everyone want to get closer to the cohort, but they also wanted to make sure that they made the best of their limited time in India and in China, in order bring the knowledge and experience back to our families, friends and peers at Babson. As team leaders of this week, we believe that we started the second half of BRIC with a powerful bang, and cannot wait to see what the future holds for our group!