Cătălina Crișan

The University of Rochester residency taught me about the complexity of interdisciplinary and intercultural collaboration and how these can be managed successfully to create joint projects. Such challenges can be surpassed if you develop your ability to listen, to have empathy and be respectful for your counterpart’s diversity. Also, I have learned about the real meaning of an inclusive community. Although there is competition between individuals to reach greater performance, the academic and entrepreneurial community of Rochester is defined by a strong sense of collaboration and philosophy of “giving before you get.” Rochester entrepreneurial community diversity enabled me to interact with software and social entrepreneurs, providing insights of the best practices and new opportunities to consider in our future projects and programs with Babeș-Bolyai University (BBU) students. Moreover, this experience enabled me to develop a social capital that I plan to use in our BBU events (e.g., conferences, lectures, competitions). This will provide to our students the access to best practices and professional guidance in entrepreneurship.

The experience as a Fulbrighter will define my approach in driving entrepreneurship development and has reinforced my knowledge and expertise to become a changemaker in my community. I believe that this experience will have two major contributions in supporting Babeș-Bolyai University mission (1) to develop competitive programs meant to serve the real needs of the business and social economy organizations, and (2) to reinforce interdisciplinary collaboration among students to raise innovation. I strongly recommend such experience because it was truly a learning opportunity that led to a meaningful change regarding the way I perceive life, people and entrepreneurship.

Assoc. Prof. Cătălina Crișan, Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca
Fulbright-RAF Visiting Scholar, Entrepreneurship, University of Rochester