Pro Tennis Player Retires His Racket to Study Abroad

Brazilian alumni Eduardo Dischinger follows his entrepreneurial dreams

Eduardo Dischinger is a man of many traits. In his native Brazil, Eduardo professionally played tennis while studying business at the Universidade Paulista

In addition to eight years of competing in the International Tennis Federation and the Association of Tennis Professionals, Eduardo also interned at his

father’s meat-exporting company, Tower Internacional Ltda. There he assisted with shipments, operational logistics and trade for Eastern Europe and South American markets, while also reviewing export documentations.

“Playing tennis professionally was an amazing experience,” Eduardo says. “I traveled all over the world, but was only home for one month out of the year. It reached a point where I wasn't as happy with it. My options were either keep playing professionally, coach or change my career path."

“I decided I wanted to work in International Business,” he confirms of this career change. “I enjoy working with people from all over the world. I would like to become an entrepreneur in the future and have my own business.”

At this point, Eduardo was ready to fully immerse himself in a new culture and study Business Administration in the United States. Berkeley Global seemed to be the perfect fit for his goals.

How did you hear about our Professional Certificate Programs? What made you choose it?

I had a friend in Brazil that participated in the Professional Certificate Programs a few years ago. She had a great experience in the program and enjoyed studying with Berkeley Global. She told me about the program and the internship opportunities in the Bay Area. I immediately began to do some research on my own. I liked the idea of the opportunity to study in the Bay Area at a prestigious university as UC Berkeley and learn in Silicon Valley. I had only visited Southern California and I really liked it but I also wanted to experience Northern California as well.

I ended up applying for the Business Administration track in Fall 2019. I was originally only planning on doing one semester and an internship. I was having such a good time that I decided to extend for the Spring 2020 semester!

 

What were your courses like?

I took four core courses in Business Administration and Finance along with four electives. My all time favorite classes were Marketing Management and Applied Corporate Finance, from my second semester. This was a capstone course where we applied all the knowledge from the semester in our projects and exams. I learned so much from these courses that will help in my future career. It was also a great experience doing case studies with my classmates and getting hands-on experience.

Having the privilege to be at UC Berkeley and be a part of the campus has brought me a lot of knowledge and confidence. I met a lot of amazing students from different backgrounds. The students are very relatable and open-minded so you learn a lot from them. It is easy to make friends from all over the world. This adds a lot to the experience of the professional certificate programs.

The quality of the program is great. You learn from instructors who are professionals in their fields. They know what it is like in the workplace and provide useful information. It is a unique kind of learning. Also, the opportunity to be in the Bay Area is great. There is so much diversity, innovation and technology, along with a unique culture.

Lastly, you meet lifelong friends from every continent. It was great to have the opportunity to travel with them on the weekends. I also now have that connection for networking. I still keep in touch with many of them today!

How was your experience studying remotely due to COVID-19 in the Spring 2020 semester?

I prefer to study in-person, but overall the structure of the courses worked outIt requires a lot of discipline and motivation to stay engaged while studying at the same pace as if you were on campus at Berkeley. I only had two courses left that I took "live-online". These were subjects I was very interested in which helped me stay focused on my studies.

As we have many group projects in the program, it was a challenge to coordinate the work with other students since we were all in different time zones. We successfully managed to deal with those issues and we did a great work on those projects. It was a great learning experience, especially considering the new reality and trends business are facing with working remotely.

What were your top 5 things to do in Berkeley?

1. I loved to try all of the different types of food that Berkeley had to offer.
2. I liked exploring different places in the Bay Area. I went hiking, visited beaches and went to the Golden Gate bridge.
3. I enjoyed getting together with friends. We liked to have traditional Brazilian BBQs and dinners. Sometimes our group would make food from their countries so we could all try!
4. I liked to visit the UC Berkeley campus. It is so beautiful and there are so many unique libraries which I spent a lot of time at.
5. I loved traveling all over California. I visited Yosemite, Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey with friends.

What does earning this certificate mean to you personally and professionally?

I feel more valuable now when looking for a job. The institution is very respected, so it adds value to myself. Professionally, I feel much more confident and learned so much—not just in the classroom, but when meeting new people, attending events and networking.

With the certificate, I learned much more than just being inside the classroom. I now have confidence that I can really perform in my future job.

When you study abroad, you don't always know what is going to happen. I was happy because I felt that I did well with my studies. I gave 100 percent and learned the most I really could. I was exposed to so many new things and learned more about myself. I have no regrets!

 

How are you using your certificate now?

A perk of the program with Berkeley Global is having the opportunity to apply for internships in the U.S. I was recently I was accepted as an intern with a

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steel industry company, Gerdau, which will begin in August 2020. Due to COVID-19, I will begin the internship remotely. I am very excited about this opportunity. This internship will allow me to practice all of the experience I have gained at Berkeley Global while continuing to learn from an amazing company.

 

What advice would you give to a future student on how to best succeed?

It is all about the mindset. If you are positive, you will have a good experience studying abroad. You will face a lot of different things, but it is important to be open to all different types of experiences. It will help you have the best time.

You will meet so many new people and learn so much from one another. Also, be open to learning new things in and outside of the classroom. If you are open, you will learn more than just academics in this experience!