Student Dives Deep on Immersion in China

What are you doing this summer?

I just got back from an immersion in Shanghai — my first time outside the country. We were students from all over USF, a mix of undergrads and graduate students in business, entrepreneurship, a few nursing majors. We stayed at the Sino-British College, and students there showed us around, took us to local spots.

Who led the immersion?

Wei Yang Menkus , director of the Center for Asia Pacific Studies, and Jesse Antilla-Hughes, head of our economics department. Before every company visit, Professor Antilla-Hughes gave us a briefing. We visited different businesses — small, large, factories, offices. 

Highlights?

We toured the General Motors assembly line, which was awesome. Melinda Xu, the managing director of a consulting firm called Ankura, talked with us about her life and her career journey so we could relate to her as a person. And one morning we all gathered around this long table with the aunties from the dining hall, learning to make zongzi — rice dumplings wrapped in banana leaves. You have to fold the leaf just right or the rice spills out, and I could not get it. One of the aunties kept taking it from me, folding it, holding it together while I tied the twine. At the end she said “good,” and I was so happy. Then we all sat down and ate what we’d made.

Any surprises?

How connected we were able to be, so fast. I don’t know a single student from that trip that I didn’t go out somewhere in Shanghai with, whether it was one-on-one or in a group.

What’s your major?

International business. And I’m thinking of minoring in Chinese studies. I’ve studied Mandarin for two semesters so far at USF, and I love it.

Would you recommend an immersion to other students?

Yes! I think an immersion proves that everyone’s a good person deep down, because when you don’t know how to speak a language, you end up paying more attention to a person’s body language and expressions, and you actually see more of who they really are.

What are you doing the rest of the summer?

I’m living in the city, working at an ice cream shop in the Marina. I’m also trying to keep improving my Chinese, and I want to do some networking. Last week I went to a meetup that I found through Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social app.