One of the many fun moments that occurs upon leaving the workforce and becoming a student again is when you realize that you get another chance (or two) to enjoy spring break. In the MBA world, spring break plans happen early, and they happen fast—before I had even taken my first exam in the fall, I committed to helping organize a large spring break study tour to a place I had never been before, located on the other side of the world. While the opportunity to go somewhere new and learn about an international real estate market was ex - citing, I did not fully appreciate at the time how impactful and memorable this trip would be.
A far cry from my spring break plans as an undergrad exploring the beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama, the Real Estate Association’s 2023 trip to Sydney, Australia helped me grow both professionally and personally, and left me full of lifelong memories with amazing people. Thank you to my fellow tour organizers PJ Carollo ’23,
In our short seven-day stint in the land down under, we met with eight incredible companies spanning a broad range of perspectives in the real estate, infrastructure, and banking industries.
Richard Alty ’23 and Ned Yale ’24 for always making planning this trip fun and easy. Thank you to Professor Brian Lancaster and Kristin Svenningsen, Managing Director of the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate, for your guidance throughout and for being such value adds during our time in Australia. Thank you to Melissa Spooner and the Chazen Institute for making the trip possible in the first place. Thank you to all our industry and alumni hosts who supported this very valuable learning opportunity. Lastly, thank you to the group of 28 CBS students, and now my 28 friends, that made this trip everything that it was!
This trip was originally supposed to happen in the Spring of 2020. Professor Brian Lancaster and some students at that time had helped the then Australian Consulate General, Alastair Walton ’87, with a feasibility study for an Australia House in New York. In return for their good work, Mr. Walton helped Professor Lancaster with various introductions which would lead to a real es - tate study tour to Australia later that year. Unfortunately, COVID happened and the whole thing was put on hold. Fast forward to Fall of 2022 when my fellow trip planners and I had the benefit of picking up where our counterparts left off, and after months of hard work and planning, we were able to bring to fruition a trip we are all proud of.
In our short seven-day stint in the land down under, we met with eight incredible companies spanning a broad range of perspectives in the real estate, infrastructure, and banking industries. We toured interesting real estate sites and were greeted by and had the opportunity to network with Australia-based CBS alumni working in a variety of businesses. We also climbed a big bridge, visited Blue Mountains, rode a roller coaster, met koalas and kangaroos, listened to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, cruised the Sydney Harbour, and spent time on the beach. It was a memorable trip to say the least, and one that I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in.