Wuhu Tiehua 芜湖铁画 Wuhu Iron Painting

Building connections is always important and understanding how different cultures and educational tracks progress is another benefit one can always process. It expands one’s knowledge and allows one to open a new mindset or viewpoint on something they didn’t know or recognize before. Hanging out with different college students when we had the time was very beneficial and I’m sure it was as exciting for the Chinese students as it was for the group of McDaniel students.

For starters, traveling to a foreign country, completing a project as well, but also making friends and contacts, the benefits and pros of such a trip are immense. This is an excellent conversation starter in an interview if put on your resume, but it also exposed individuals to other cultures. From what I experienced the levels of education are the same. After spending 12 years in lower schools, a Chinese student would hope to be accepted to college. The students we all hung out with already chose their majors and went to specialty colleges. I don’t believe something someone in China can apply without declaring a major already, and once a student has selected a major they cannot change their major easily. There are a few differences but the majority of themes are the same. Both students from the US and China hope to get a summer job when the school year finishes.

In regards to social connections, for people in the same field it is very important and more likely to run into people from different cultures and from different. Our age is a global age and competitiveness stretches over just states or countries; competition is worldwide. You never know if you will be working for someone you met a long time ago on a summer trip to a foreign country!