Skip to content

Tag: Study tour

Published on

Brandi Cook, MBA, Class of 2019

While wrapping-up this short-term program to Shanghai, the main thing I learned was that two weeks is not enough time to truly appreciate China. The magnitude of the country certainly did not fail to impress me; every time I thought I was accomplishing a lot of “must see’s,” I was reminded how small of a corner of the country I was in.

Over two weeks, I took the bullet train to Beijing, hiked the Great Wall outside of the village of Shixia, made it to Nanluoguxiang Market for a cultural experience and shopping, went to the stunning Summer Palace on the Lake, visited the Bund and downtown Shanghai, saw Yuyuan Garden, Market, and the City of God Temple, experienced the tech hub of Hangzhou and its famous West Lake, and saw the canals in the water city of Suzhou. All of this on top of going to class every day! I know it sounds like a lot, but I just keep thinking of all the things I didn’t get to see! I found China to be so rich in diversity, history, and culture, that it is somewhere you must experience more than once.

Now that it’s over, I can sheepishly admit that I was fairly nervous about going to China, even though I’ve never felt nervous to travel before. And I can also say that visiting China turned out to be very challenging at times (way more than I expected it to be), but also incredibly rewarding (full of adventures!), and I’m so very glad that I went. The Beyond program was really well structured and the staff and content were great, which left a solid foundation for me to sightsee and experience the culture. I will never negate the value of hearing about Chinese business, innovation, and economy from the experts, but in my life I have found that the best way to gain a new perspective is to go out, have some crazy adventures, and just live differently.

Coming home from extended travel is always bittersweet. I am so glad to see my family and sleep in my own bed, but it is certainly hard to go back to the office, attend meetings, and sit in a cube. While the cultural perspective and change of mindset bestowed by traveling internationally is invaluable, I am definitely taking away more than just a new worldview. The most important thing about having unique experiences is learning how to integrate them into your life once you’re done. Both of the STAPs I did this summer- Italy and China- left me with some valuable practice synthesizing information, refining ideas, and creating presentations that give the “so what,” and these are the skills I’m applying in my professional environment. It’s only been a few days, but I am energized to identify what certifications I need to attain to take my career to the next level, and very excited to graduate from the MBA program this winter so that I can get started on the next phase of my life.

Published on
Group of Students at Fudan University, Summer 2019

Blog Post by Brandi Cook, MBA

Tomorrow marks a week into my short term study abroad to Shanghai, China with the Fudan University Beyond Program, and what a week it’s been! We are a very diverse cohort of 54 people from 28 different countries, comprised of education backgrounds from undergraduate up through lifelong learners. The theme of the program is Innovation, eCommerce, and Entrepreneurship, and Fudan School of Management has put on so far an incredibly interesting lecture series and four great company visits! Over the last three days, we were granted an amazing insider opportunity to visit one of the campuses of Tencent (the creators of WeChat) as well as the headquarters of Alibaba. These two megalith companies presented fascinating case studies because they are very different in their approach. Alibaba is the world’s largest retailer and eCommerce company, and WeChat is a suite of apps inside one giant app, and it can pretty much do anything you need in China (and I do mean anything). But these companies are so much more than just these two products! With the access granted through the Fudan program, we were able to learn about their corporate culture, philosophy, and values, see how they went from startup companies to basically ruling the world, and discuss business strategy for their futures. Even though the reach of these companies is not quite as extensive inside the US yet, I believe they are coming soon. And with all of their offerings, they will each give their western counterparts (ahem, Amazon and Facebook for starters) a run for their money. It was very cool to see how these companies foster innovation, conduct operations, and create magic!

And outside of class time, Shanghai itself is a sight to see. There is so much to do and see here, and the food!!! I had no idea there were something like 28 different types of Chinese cuisine, and believe me, I’m determined to try all of it!!! While I won’t lie and say it’s been easy to get around, as the only two words I know in Mandarin are “hello” and “thank you,” in general it’s been workable, and it’s certainly been fun figuring it out. There are many familiar things about Shanghai compared to other places I’ve been, but China seems to give things a flair all of its own! Tomorrow my new friend and I are going to take the speed train to Beijing for the weekend, with plans to hike the Great Wall on Saturday- and I am so excited to experience this icon of history. So please send us good vibes that we only get lost a few times, and that we maintain our sense of humor when it inevitably happens!

Expectations are always challenged by the realities of a situation, and that can be good, bad, or both. Lucky for me, Shanghai has, so far, been mostly good.

Brandi Cook, GWU MBA in Shanghai

Featured Photo: Fudan University Beyonders at Taichi Zhenyuan

Secondary Photo: Brandi Cook outside Hudan University in Hangzhou, China

Published on

Blog post by Brandi Cook

I remember one day, while studying abroad in Moscow during undergrad, my Russian friend asked me unexpectedly who had won World War II. Of course I replied that the United States and its allies did, because that’s what I had been taught in my US-centric cultural upbringing. Bemused, he simply stated that he learned it was the Soviet Union. It’s been many, many years since this exchange (I won’t date myself!) but I still reflect on this as an example of cultural perception differences- because really, we were both right.

Perception is a tricky thing. You and I can stand next to each other and experience the same event differently. Cultural experiences can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, let alone across oceans. Our worldview is shaped and molded by our experiences and how we perceive them, and I have found that the more you expose yourself to other cultures, the more open-minded you will be.

I’m very excited to be going to Shanghai in July as part of the Fudan University Exchange, and while I inherently have pre-conceived ideas about how the country will be and what to expect, I’m trying to balance that with education and research. I’ve devoured the program material, looked up things to do in the area, and researched cultural faux pas. I’ve also taken the Cultural Orientations Indicator offered by GW, finding the results compelling, albeit unsurprising. It’s always interesting to learn things about yourself objectively, and that test puts into words things I already knew- that time management is VERY important to me; that I’m a doer, not a relationship-builder; and that I’m very literal and frank in conversation, as opposed to using context to determine meaning. The test then allows you to compare yourself to your destination country, and I tended to score nearly the opposite on every measure of the “average” Chinese person. And that’s okay with me. I’m not going abroad to bring my brand of Americana to them, I’m going abroad to expand my worldview, learn about a rich, diverse culture, and hopefully make some new friends. I know that the people I meet will have their own positive and negative perceptions of Americans and our culture, but it is my hope that I will be able to challenge (in a good way) some of their ideas, as I know that the visit will change me and mine.

-------
Photo Credits:
Featured Photo: Six versus Nine [Digital Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved June 3, 2019 from http://www.nyspirit.com/spirit-reading/perception-tricky-thing/
Shanghai Skyline [Digital Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved June 3, 2019 from http://www.meet-in-shanghai.net/

Published on

Blog post by Calvin Sanders, GMBA '20

Our South African adventure has concluded after two full weeks of culture, food, business and bonding. I believe there was considerably more personal development for each individual on the trip than anybody of us expected. More on this later – first, a host of thank yous and acknowledgements are in order to those who made this CAP trip as successful and special as it was.

The first and biggest shout out goes to Bryan, Sarah, and the rest of the G&EE team that organized every component of the CAP experience. I have never experienced a two-week overseas program that went without a hitch, especially in a developing nation where things can be unpredictable. We had site visits at non-profits, government institutions, historical landmarks, tourist attractions, and everything in between. Every single restaurant we stopped at had already set a table for 20 dinner guests. The effort, energy, and passion of this team were visible throughout our time in-country.

Next is a thank you for Professor Akyuz and his Graduate Administrative Assistant , Tringa. Proessor Akyuz’s shared his intimate knowledge of the country and consulting processes with us during the semester in D.C., and while me made furious project improvements at the last minute in Cape Town. A special shout out to Tringa, who became a close friend of mine and of others over the course of the program.

Finally, I want to thank every one of my CAP South Africa classmates with whom I shared this experience over the last four months. I can say with confidence that we have all formed bonds that will stand the test of time, both personally and professionally.

So, what will I take away from over two weeks spent in South Africa? In some ways, being here has raised as many questions as it has answered. The country clearly stands apart from its other African counterparts in development and potential; the roads are mostly paved, the tap water is potable, and the entrepreneurial energy is apparent. Despite this, millions of South Africans live in informal metal and cinder-block structures. HIV remains widespread and corruption is pervasive. It will be fascinating to watch South Africa as time goes on because, if the country is governed well and the right economic decisions are made, we can expect the Rainbow nation to develop into a fully modern economy within a few decades.

Race is another fascinating subject in South Africa, perhaps because the racial dichotomy takes on an entirely different feeling than in the United States. Generally, race relations in South Africa seemed to lack the resentment that is pervasive in the United States. I believe this is because of lasting reconciliatory emotions from the Mandela years and Afrikaner acceptance that the Black African majority is benign to their presence. It seems like everybody wants the South African experiment to work. I, for one, am optimistic.

Thank you for following my experience with 15 other GMBA students as we completed our client engagements in Cape Town. Until next time!

Viewing Message: 1 of 1.
 Notice

This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. Visit GW’s Website Privacy Notice to learn more about how GW uses cookies.