Gustavo Khouri

Catching a Boston Red Sox baseball game at world-famous Fenway Park.

Upon arriving in Boston in September 2017, Gustavo Khouri of São Paolo, Brazil remembers, “I didn’t know anyone there and was insecure about how my experience was going to be.” But one week later, Boston University Metropolitan College (BU MET) International hosted a pizza party to welcome new students that happened to fall on his birthday. “Everybody sang happy birthday, and I met some valuable friends,” he remembers. “After this event, I realized that I was going to have an outstanding time in Boston.”

During Khouri’s final year of study at Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia, where he got a bachelor’s in civil engineering, he interned for Rudge Ramos Construction Company, which then hired him full-time upon graduation. “After one semester working there,” he says, “I realized that I was missing some important knowledge in business strategy, finance and marketing.” Soon after, Khouri decided to do a master’s in business administration at Insper, where he learned about the opportunity to study abroad at BU MET.

Exploring the Halloween tourist attractions in Salem, Mass.

“What I found out really pleased me,” Khouri explains. “The experience of studying abroad in the United States, in an amazing University, with great professors, with students from all around the world and with a remarkable program, made me choose to pursue my graduate certificate at BU. Moreover, the idea of doing an internship in Boston, in an area related to what I studied that could really contribute to my professional goals, made me decide to go after the advanced graduate certificate.”

Of the four classes Khouri took to complete a graduate certificate in international business management during his first semester at BU MET, his favorite was enterprise risk management. “I learned the elements of risk assessment and crisis response,” he says, in relation to real world occurrences. “This made me realize the importance of this class, and that I was going to use what I learned in my professional life.”

Hanging out with fellow BU MET International students.

The following semester, Khouri was placed in an internship at the International Entrepreneurship Center (IEC) through BU MET’s advanced graduate certificate program. He worked with people from different countries, doing market research and analyzing business strategies and financial models. Since returning to Brazil, Khouri has resumed his studies at Insper and continued working for Rudge Ramos Construction Company, where he applies his newly acquired skill set to working with clients in order to help them be more profitable while reducing risk.

On a personal note, Khouri has also taken up running, and is training for a half-marathon at Disney World in January. “I intend to continue my training, improve my times and run some marathons around the world,” he states. Reflecting on his time at BU, Khouri adds, “I learned a lot about business management, knowledge that will contribute to my professional success. Moreover, the experience of studying abroad made me become less shy, more proactive, and I learned a lot about how to solve all types of problems on my own.”