My time in China was enriching both personally and professionally. I learned a lot about China and business in China but I also got a better understanding of business and what I can do as a part of the industry.
For one thing, I realized how important integrity is. From everything I saw with the Plus3 group and the companies we visited, I learned that when a person is on a team like an employee is in a company that person must do what has been tasked them or else the entire operation could collapse. Whoever makes a plan including your participation is expecting your full cooperation for that plan to succeed, you are no longer your own boss. I saw that anyone involved in a group working environment has an ethical responsibility to uphold their end of the project.
I also saw first hand how breadth in my education can really reinforce my understanding of the working world. Learning about engineering along with engineering students gave the experience more significance because I could understand how important or interesting a project or machine was based off of their reactions, which in turn made me more aware of what to look out for in an engineering setting. This will help me later on in my career because most businesses depend on engineers to function and manufacture products.
This trip reminded me of the importance of first hand experiences for learning. I have studied abroad before and my experience in China reinforced my desire to study abroad again. There was so much I learned by seeing China myself that I know no amount of books or documentaries could teach me. This experience combined with my other study abroad have proven to me that visiting different cultures myself will be a lifelong learning experience as I can continue doing it forever, and I will always be able to reflect on the memories I make abroad which will help my personal and professional development.
Working in my small group showed me how important social skills can be in a professional environment. Being able to read a room and delegate tasks in a manner that other group members accept is invaluable for getting work done efficiently and reducing agency problems. Without effective communication, my group would have failed to produce our final product efficiently.
My small group was benefited by our multi-disciplined team. There was a lot of elements engineering that I did not understand well enough to delegate tasks surrounding them, so my engineering group mates helped the team get work done on time with their separate knowledge set. Not only was their knowledge helpful, but my engineering group mates also brought a different perspective to our project that the other business student and I could not match. Without their specialty, my group would have struggled if not failed to deliver a successful final presentation.
I loved my time in China and the memories I made there, I can’t wait to study abroad again!