The past two weeks have given me insights and experiences that I could not have found elsewhere. This experience firstly, enhanced my educational and professional development. Through this experience, I have seen that there are vastly different ways to acheive the same goal. I have learned that there will always be differing circunstances and that there will never be the perfect opprotunity. I’ve learned that through working with others, embracing their cultural differences, makes one stronger and more diverse. These two weeks have opened my eyed to new ways of solving educational and professional problems by enabeling me to view problems through multiple perspectives and finding the most efficent solution.

Additionally this trip made me realize the practical application of the Engineering code of conduct and ethics. Over the past two weeks, time and time again we saw companies explain how some of their difficulties surfaced thorugh the adherance to company policies and following general ethical practices. For example, VIPKid mentioned how their emploee base was limited by background checks that were necessary to ensure that their company could educate children in the most ethical way possible. Furthermore, in the interest of preserving the company’s intelectual property and private interworking there were numberous occasions where we were not permitted to take pictures or the speaker could not answer our questions without sharing privlaged information. This gave context to the ethical issues that we discussed asnausium in engineering eleven and twelve.

Visiting these companies also open my eyes to the social environment of professional life. Despite workign in a corprate environemnt and at some of the largest companies in their respective fields, the companies we visited maintained a human feel. While these companies would not have acheived the success they have if they did not place business at the top of their priority list, they could not have maintained their level of success wihtout creating a cooperative work environment and being willing to open the doors to perspective employees, like us.

This enables me to visualize how diverse teams actually work together on real world problems rather than simple assignements in a classroom. I had the opprotunity to see how different engineers and business minds alike are necessary for a business to succeed. On a similar note, this trip also adjusted my mindset for a lifetime to come. Moving forward, both in education and in my professional career, I plan to reach out to others who may be more knowlegable than I am on a given topic. I have learned that there will be times when you must work with people with whome you disagree or do not get along. This trip has also taught me that both in education and professional setting you can never be fully prepared for what will happen. In the past two weeks I have meet people that meant to study abroad in China for a semester and found themselves staying for a lifetime as well as people that never set foot in china untill their company sent them for a 6 month rotation that ended up being several years.

Spending two weeks in China was enperience I will remember for the rest of my life. I have learned lessons I didn’t had yet to be taught and met people that I hope will remain life long friends. This program took my on a journey litterally half way around the world and back, but kindered my spirit of adventure and reminded me that wherever the future may take me, to “take only memories, and leave only footprints.” – Chief Seattle