Meet Maria Urso

For someone who has never studied abroad, traveled alone - or even lived alone - Maria Urso didn't hesitate a moment when she got the chance to do all three at once more or less, moving and working for three months in Poland. Urso, who works in New York at Bonnier Technology Group as an integrated sales development manager, is currently working at business daily Puls Biznesu, helping to develop a weekly magazine as part of the GROW program.

"Deadlines, timelines, and material due dates are all drastically different," says Urso, 31, about the work.  "However, the work ethic and environment are very similar to that in New York City.  In both cases, everyone is close-knit and works as one unit, one team.  From my first day, I felt part of the team and was included in everything from meetings to grabbing a piwo - beer - after work." 

At Puls Biznesu, Urso is working to help define targets, develop creative proposals for clients, create sales materials, train the sales team and attend sales calls in conjunction with the upcoming PB Weekly magazine. But while the work is exciting, what she says she values most are her co-workers. "The people are amazing, so fun and caring," she says.  "I have already made friends here that will be friends of mine forever."

The biggest challenge is the language, Urso says. "Polish is ranked one of the top hardest languages to learn," she says. "Thankfully, the majority of the people know enough English in order for us to be able to communicate.  English was not taught in schools here until recently, so the majority of the business world has taught English to themselves or has just recently started taking classes." 

Which hasn't stopped Urso from trying to learn some Polish, which her coworkers love to help her with. "The funniest story coming from my Polish coworkers is listening to me try and speak Polish," she says.  "It's nearly impossible... I get challenged by everyone to try to say one word properly."

Urso has only praise for GROW. "This is the most exhilarating experience of my life so far," she says.