Alumni Spotlight: Patrick Field
Far left: Patrick Field
Connections to Careers with Study Abroad
Written by: Tiffany Harrison
May 2009
For anyone who has ever studied abroad, there is always a moment that marks the start of a new adventure. It might be as simple as a conversation, or as complex as a first-hand experience. For Patrick Field, a 2007 alumnus of Chico State, the ultimate decision to study abroad came down to an email. Before leaving Chico to live in Bilbao, Spain for the 2004-2005 academic year, Field wasn't entirely sure whether or not he was cut out to study abroad. The day he received an email from Study Abroad Coordinator, Tasha Dev, though, the reservations fell away and everything began to change. "The email from Tasha laid everything about the program out in detail for me," Field said. "She was a savior who convinced me to step outside my comfort zone."
A little over five years later, Field notes that without taking part in the University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC) program in Bilbao, his life would be completely different. "I was a fraternity guy that left to go study abroad," he said. "It was a huge change for me and I learned a lot about life outside the United States and how to embrace new cultures." Field graduated from Chico State in May 2007 with a degree in Business, an option in marketing and a minor in Spanish. It wasn't always Field's plan to add Spanish as his minor-it was only while living abroad that he picked it up and saw it as an opportunity to expand his career interests.
Once he returned to Chico State from Bilbao, settling down was far from Field's mind. The first thing he did was get involved with those that had made his journey possible: The Chico State Study Abroad Office. Serving as first a intern and later as an employee, Field took a direct role in helping other students to fulfill the dream of studying abroad. "It was a great learning experience for me, working with the office when I returned from abroad," he said.
In the summer of 2006, Field took part in another Chico State program where he studied for two and half weeks in Thailand at Chiang Mai University. The units he accumulated there double-counted for the ethnic and non-western general education requirements at Chico State. It's no wonder then the experience still remains with Field-living, breathing and absorbing the culture of a foreign country can do that for a person.
This combined familiarity with life outside the United States played a vital role in helping Field to land a job with Team One Advertising, an organization he continues to work for today. As a division of Saatchi and Saatchi, a global communications company, Team One is an international full service advertising agency with customers that include Proctor & Gamble, The Ritz-Carlton and Lexus. "After two and half years with Team One, I now work as an account executive," Field said. "This involves producing a great deal of marketing and advertising for Toyota and Lexus."
Field can often be found pitching marketing ideas to a number of different countries, handling the communication with Lexus counterparts around the world. In an average day, Field might be on the phone with seven to ten different countries. "Because of my study abroad experiences, I'm much more comfortable talking to people and understanding different cultures," he said. "It can be hard to get the right entry level job out of college, so having the right contacts and experiences will make a difference."
27 countries and three continents later, Field is still going strong. He is constantly encouraged by the new challenges he faces and is always on the lookout for a new place to travel. He encourages all future study abroad alumni to go for a year, noting that it takes at least a semester to get settled into a new culture. "Studying abroad was one of the best experiences of my life," Field said. "It changed everything."
With this in mind, it is always a good idea to pay attention to something as simple as an email-because you never know, it could change your life too.
Photo: Patrick Field at far left