by Charlie Minard (Accounting, ’15)
During my time at UW-Madison, I had the opportunity to take a number of Spanish and Portuguese classes in addition to my accounting major. These classes were incredible for me as they sparked my growing interest in South America. As a result of these language classes, I made a ton of new friends and stumbled upon what is known as a FLAS (Foreign Language and Area Studies) fellowship, which is offered by the LACIS (Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies) department.
In the summer of 2014, I was lucky enough to receive a summer FLAS fellowship to study abroad in São Paulo, Brazil during the 2014 World Cup. I cannot begin to describe how amazing this experience was. It was during this summer studying abroad that I made several connections that eventually led to the job that I have now in South America. I will forever be eternally grateful for how the LACIS department (Hi Darcy and Alberto!) enriched my college experience.
Currently, I work as an accountant for Online Taxman, a small international accounting company in South America. After graduating in May 2015, I moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brasil for four wonderful months. Now I am working in Buenos Aires, Argentina and will be moving to Medellín, Colombia in January. I use my Portuguese skills daily in my job. Somehow, I was able to find an accounting job that utilizes my Portuguese.
Advice: Take advantage of all the great classes and speakers that LACIS provides. I learned a ton through these!
Favorite phrase in Portuguese: E aí mermão, beleza? (What’s up homie)