“Each semester, each group is assigned to plan an actual event with real clients,” she said.

The event hosted about 150 students, serving a dinner menu of a combination of standard American dishes and international cuisine, said Andrew Blumberg, a hospitality business junior and team leader of the group.

“International relations are necessary with any field you get into,” he said.

Clients of the event included Eric Doerr, an associate director for the Lear Corporation Career Services Center and Amy Radford-Popp, the lead coordinator of Broad Freshman Program.

“It gives students a taste of what they need to think about before going to someone else’s culture,” Doerr said. “So they’re prepared to and will (be able to) respond correctly or in an acceptable way in someone’s culture.”

The dinner began with a comical video of mistakes made in professional settings, followed by a presentation from Kohl’s — which sponsored the event — and an address from keynote speaker, Tony Espinosa, the director of human resources at Des-Case Corporation.

With MSU’s expanding population of diverse student cultures and many students studying abroad, events such as this might help students successfully adjust in real world situations, Balaj said.

“(Students) should know how to handle international business circumstances,” she said. “If they are at a business dinner (they should know) what they should do if they get a dish that they don’t normally eat.”

Shannon O’Brien, a Spanish and Chinese senior, said she attended because she plans to make international relation interactions a priority in her future.

“A lot of times, the way people kind of get to meet each other is over dinner,” she said. “I don’t want to make any faux pas or do anything that’s taboo in another culture.”