It was an amazing two weeks in South Korea that was full of experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life. As this was my first time traveling to internationally, it changed my perspective on many things and taught me about a different culture that will impact me as I grow and learn in my life. In addition to amazing cultural experiences, I also got the opportunity to visit many companies where I learned about business and the working culture in different parts of the world. In Korea, I noticed and learned about some of the ethical issues in business, the social environment at work, and working in multi-disciplinary teams.

One of the areas that I learned about during my time in South Korea was ethics in business and some of the issues that exist in business ethics. When we visited different companies and got the opportunity to hear from some of the Presidents and CEOs of companies, I learned about the hierarchy of power and respect that exists in Korea and how it is different than most countries including the United States. In Korea, it is very hard for young professionals to get higher ranking jobs and to get experience due to the hierarchy that exists. Also, the collectivist culture in Korea does not allow for individuals to act for themselves to present ideas that may be considered risky but good be good. An issue that we learned about is the difficulty for foreigners specifically, but also Koreans, to start up their own business due to the culture, money and society. Major companies like Hyundai and Samsung are great for Korea’s economy and jobs; however, it makes it very difficult for smaller companies to grow since they control so many markets and businesses.

During the two weeks during Plus 3 Korea I grew as much professionally as I may have during most of my time so far in college. The actual international experience and being able to meet with and see companies work was amazing as it taught me so much. I believe this program is one of the best opportunities to develop, especially at this age, as I know how it has impacted me and my education. It gives me a greater passion and taught me many things about business and culture that I know now is needed to succeed not only in business but in the world. Education was another major area that we learned about as we visited two of the top universities in South Korea and learned about how important it is to work hard and be dedicated to your education.

The next topic I will discuss is the social environment at work and how it impacts how you work and the culture. The most important and obvious thing that I learned from the social environment at work is respect. This respect most importantly is toward your boss and elders, but also to your coworkers and visitors. During our company visits, I saw many of the employees that would always be doing whatever they were told to do and would show the respect and loyalty that is not seen as much in America. The other important aspect of their social environment at work is their work ethic and their “hurry, hurry” culture. They always are working and try to do everything fast as they do not want to waste time. However, there are times that employees would stay at work very late but still not be as productive as a normal length day.

During the trip I also had the opportunity to work on multi-disciplinary teams as we had teams of both business and engineering students throughout the trip and for a final project and presentation. This was a cool opportunity since we had to work together and understand each other’s capabilities and though process as we think very differently and have different perspectives on things. It taught us to work together and trust each other as the engineers were better as some things and brought their perspective while the business students did as well. I enjoyed this opportunity and thought the final project went great as we successful came up with an idea for an app that I believe could have been successful.

In conclusion, Plus 3 Korea was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget and taught me a lot about the culture and business of South Korea. The cultural experiences were absolutely amazing and it was really cool to visit some great companies like Hyundai, Samsung, Naver, and more. I am sad the journey has come to end, but I will never forget the memories and things I learned in South Korea.