Success in business requires a global perspective, and NH entrepreneur Matt Pierson is working with four NH college students to allow high school students across the country to gain that perspective through the Semester at Sea program.
Semester at Sea is a study abroad program where college students travel the world for 108 days aboard a floating university. Four NH undergraduate college students, two from the University of NH in Durham and two from Daniel Webster College in Nashua, are developing a plan to offer shortened five-day trips to high school students, both those in private schools and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Our goal at Semester at Sea is to grow global leaders, says Pierson, an alum of the program and a member of its board of trustees, as well as chairman of the NH High Technology Council. We truly need to have a global perspective if our high-tech economy is going to continue to grow. Pierson credits his career to the program, which he attended in 1983. He has since traveled to 80 countries, including buying companies in Denmark and England.
The students are developing two separate business models that include how to recruit students and who will pay for the program. As part of their research, the students took a five-day cruise with Semester at Sea major contributors and social and business leaders earlier this year. Among those they interviewed was Nobel Prize Winner Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Scott Seamans, co-founder of Crocs shoes.
UNH junior Elizabeth Woznack raved about the project: It's not just a project, it's real life. The students will present their findings to the program's board of directors this fall.