Thunderbird network saves the day :

Susan Evangeline Bagh ’08 did not know how long it would take before she would be allowed back into the United States. She was alone in Nogales, Mexico, with barely any cash and no knowledge of Spanish. That is until she realized the power of Thunderbird's global network. Fellow students and an alumnus stepped in and changed her fate.

Bagh, an EMBA 16 student from India, traveled to Mexico to get her H1-B visa stamped so she could go on a trip to China from Thunderbird on March 7. She filled out the necessary visa stamping paperwork and scheduled an appointment with the United States consulate in Mexico on Feb. 29.

Bagh arrived at the consulate on the morning of her appointment. She figured the process would take only a few hours. But before her meeting began, consulate officials told her that her paperwork was filled out improperly and they would not see her. Bagh said she remained calm and corrected her forms.

She waited again to see a representative, but when her turn finally came she received more bad news. The consulate had no record of her visa renewal data she submitted to the visa office in the Department of State in Washington, D.C. They could not process her visa extension stamping.

“The representative from the consulate told me it could take one to three weeks for my form to be processed, and I should wait for a call or e-mail from the consulate,” says Bagh. “I was not prepared to stay in Mexico. I did not feel comfortable.”

Bagh didn't know what to do. She couldn’t re-enter the United States because her visa had expired. It was Friday afternoon. The consulate was closed on the weekend. Her only option was to sit and wait in Nogales.

Bagh called friends for help at Thunderbird, and they contacted Keith Galbut '01 , a T-bird alumnus, lawyer and Bagh’s international law instructor at Thunderbird. Galbut said he could not do anything for Bagh until Monday since it was late Friday afternoon and the consulate was closing, so she checked into a hotel and then went to purchase basic necessities.

That’s when she got more bad news. Her credit and debit cards would not work in Nogales to protect her from theft. She checked her e-mail every hour that weekend, hoping for updates from Galbut and the consulate. Meanwhile, classmate Raj Ahuja ’08 traveled to Nogales to provide Bagh with cash and moral support.

After an anxious weekend, Monday finally rolled around. Galbut contacted both the consulate in Mexico and the visa office directly, trying to figure out what happened. He found out the consulate in Mexico never received the paperwork Bagh sent to the visa office. Galbut said he started working up and down the chain of command to get Bagh’s visa expedited.

“My practice and my friends are an extension of Thunderbird and a big global family,” says Galbut. “All kinds of different circumstances arise every day, but Thunderbirds really gravitate to each other.”

On Tuesday morning, March 4, Galbut called Bagh to inform her the paperwork went through. She went back to the consulate office one last time. She was no longer a prisoner of the consulate. Her teacher had rescued her.

Bagh arrived back in Phoenix later the same day and began her journey to China with her classmates just a few days later.

Bagh said she is amazed at the help she received from her Thunderbird network of friends – including her instructor who helped her pro bono.

Bagh said she would lend a helping hand to a fellow T-bird without question, but not just because of her ordeal in Mexico. She said the friendships and bonds she has made while attending the School have made it easy to feel part of an extended T-bird family.

"Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, and never dream of regretting."

To share your global business words of wisdom, e-mail: insider@thunderbird.edu