Penn Abroad Ambassador Silas Ruth

Program:

• GRIP: Entrepreneurship in Montevideo

Ask me about...

• Working in a different language

• Recruiting while abroad

• Being a D1 athlete abroad

• Living abroad alone for the first time

My Experience Abroad:

At Penn, I study economics and am very interested in the start-up world. As a member of the XC and Track and Field teams going abroad during the school year conflicts with my athletic goals, so I saw GRIP as the perfect opportunity to travel to a new place while exploring my interest in growing businesses. I have studied Spanish for 4 semesters at Penn, and  Uruguay's theme of entrepreneurship was the perfect combination of my interest in Spanish language and culture and start-ups. Through GRIP I was able to intern at a tech/retail start-up while living and learning with an Uruguayan host mom. I gained valuable insight into early stage business growth and developed my Spanish business vocabulary. 

Other Highlights:

• Watching Uruguay win the U20 World Cup and taking to the city streets to celebrate the win with locals.

• Watching the Uruguayan national team play

• Watching Nacional (a fútbol team in Montevideo) play

• Visiting Buenos Aires and Rio with other Penn interns