Feature: Not your typical summer
10/1/2011 3:10:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Megan Cain's internship in India was featured in the October 1 football game program vs. Yale. Here is the complete feature story, along with a link to Cain's journal entries from week four of her experience.
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Media Relations
Megan Cain has done a lot in her time at Lehigh, whether it's in the classroom, on the soccer field or in the community. For all she's studied, played and accomplished, something she experienced this past summer will stick with her like nothing else.
“When thinking back at my time at Lehigh, I will remember my demanding coursework, but more than anything else, my experience on the soccer team and this internship in India,” said Cain.
A midfielder on the defending Patriot League Champion women's soccer team, Cain is an Industrial Engineering major, who found a unique opportunity through the Iacocca Institute on campus. She always wanted to study abroad, but due to playing a Division I sport, she couldn't afford to miss time. Even in the “off” playing season, she would miss too much valuable playing experience that it would set her too far back. So when Cain heard of an opportunity for an overseas internship during the summer, she pounced on the opportunity.
“I liked the idea of this program because I knew it would be in the summer and I knew I could be in a foreign country,” said Cain. “I first heard about it in my sophomore IBE (Integrated Business & Engineering honors) seminar through Richard Brant, a professor at the Iacocca Institute. So I applied and found out that I was accepted in December of last year.”
At first, Cain didn't know where she'd be assigned. After a while, she learned of her placement in India which at first caught her aback.
“Applying to the program, I envisioned myself having a typical European experience,” said Cain. “After getting my placement in India, I was apprehensive in the beginning and worried that being alone, female, not knowing any of the language and being immersed in a cultured that was so vastly different, it would be a hard adjustment. Fortunately, the company and people I worked with were extremely accommodating and welcoming, so the transition was really very easy, and fun.”
Cain was placed with the Viva Group in Mumbai, India, a holding company that contains a hotel branch, restaurant branch and real estate branch, and is also involved in investing projects. Cain's position was with the real estate branch. She certainly faced a number of challenges from the get-go.
“Once I got there, it was an extreme culture shock, from the heat being over 100 degrees every day to the dress code being much different from what we're used to in the United States, and specifically more conservative,” said Cain. “Also, just the dynamic between men and women is different. When I attended my first meeting in the workplace, it was a very corporate setting; I was the only female.
“They conducted the meeting in English to accommodate me, however, it might as well have been a foreign language because the accent was so thick,” she continued. “Over time, I got better at understanding the dialect, but Hindi was generally the predominant language in the workplace, so that made it difficult at times.”
Cain departed the United States on May 23 and arrived in India on May 25. Once there, her initial goals were to get acquainted with both the culture and how real estate works in India.
“Specifically in Mumbai, their primary concern is providing affordable housing to the 20-plus million people that live in the city. Because housing is currently so expensive, people are forced to live in slums,” said Cain. “They're trying to fight that with two primary governmental schemes. One is Slum Rehabilitation Authority, which is where developers like my boss acquire a given pocket slum and put its inhabitants in temporary housing, while they construct apartments free of charge. The benefit to the developers is that they are given ownership of the land and allowed to use the bottom floor of the apartments for commercial purposes, which is extremely valuable real estate in the heart of the city.”
Cain's job was to work with the developers and municipalities on the documentation and approvals associated with the different steps of this process.
“My job was to read through project proposals and decide which ones I thought would be beneficial to the company and which ones weren't,” she said. “I often shadowed my boss and attended various business meetings with him. Sometimes, we would go on day trips to different parts of Mumbai, and even different cities throughout the rest of India.”
Soccer is important to Cain and staying active and in shape for the fall season. Luckily, Cain found a local gym which she went to every morning before work.
“The trainers at the gym were so excited by the fact that a female was working out and was intense about it, that I had my own personal trainer following me along with my workouts and tracking my strength and conditioning,” she said. “Sometimes on the weekends, I got to play pick-up soccer with the locals. It was amazing.”
Cain developed a real appreciation for soccer, which she deemed “the universal language.”
“I would go to these little communities after work and play on complete dirt. It made it interesting because I was there during the monsoons, so it was often just mud. I played against everyone from five-year olds all the way up to 40-year old men. It was really fun.”
For as positive as the trip was, the ending was eventful to say the least. The day Cain was supposed to fly home was when a terrorist attack hit Mumbai. Three bombs killed at least 21 people and injured more than 140. It was certainly frightening for Cain, who was only miles away from where it happened. That pushed her return flight back two days.
“It was scary,” said Cain. “We were driving to the airport in the heart of Mumbai and were experiencing the worst traffic I've ever seen. We didn't know what the problem was until we heard something on the radio; it was all in Hindi, which I didn't understand. But apparently, there had been a terrorist attack in a neighborhood right next to where we were. We had no idea.
“I tried to catch my flight, but the U.S. Embassy was shut down and the network was flooded, so I couldn't make calls to let my family know that I was ok,” Cain continued. “Lehigh was actually really concerned because they couldn't get a hold of me and they knew what was going on. Luckily, after two days, everything was sorted out and I finally made it home. It was definitely a little tense.”
When looking back, Cain certainly learned much more than any tangible skills or experiences. The trip helped make her Lehigh career complete. She was very appreciative of, and took great pride in knowing, that she was representing Lehigh.
“Being able to take a classroom experience and apply it to a real-world setting is really cool in itself because you realize all this hard work is finally paying off,” she said. “I think my boss, and the people I worked with, were impressed by how quickly I could adapt to things and problem solve. That's based off of what I've learned here [at Lehigh].
“Beyond that, having it be a Lehigh-run program made me really proud of my school and where I came from and what I learned,” Cain continued. “Just having that international experience too is a huge component I've been looking for in my experience here. My time in India satisfied that desire more than I could have ever imagined.”
Memories she took with her will last a lifetime.
“Getting to work in the slums was a really valuable experience,” said Cain. “Also memorable was getting to travel with my boss' family for a short week vacation and really getting immersed in the culture and family dynamic; it's so different than what we have over here. And then traveling - seeing the Taj Mahal and swimming in the Indian Ocean - are things I'll never forget.
“What I will remember most from India are the people,” she continued. “Whether they're the most important executives or the people that I would pass in the street, Indians are the most warm, welcoming, accommodating people, no matter what situation or socioeconomic status they're in. They always have a smile and they're always kind and just so proud of the country that they're from. That in itself was really inspiring to be around. My work experience was also very valuable and I am now interested in pursuing a career in the real estate industry.”
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