With the development of the global pandemic, more academic institutions have adapted and modified education methods. Starting in summer 2020, TBC began offering virtual internship experiences to students interested in China and its growing business market. Just recently, the fall 2020 Virtual Internship Program concluded with an online event recapping the student-interns’ experiences.
On Monday, December 21, TBC hosted its second Virtual Internship Showcase. Working professionals, professors, and TBC staff had the opportunity to hear from students-interns from Marquette University and Sanata Dharma University about their individual experiences working with WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and Glue Up (formerly EventBank).
The interns each gave presentations discussing their internship work and how it has contributed to improving their skills and giving them an upper hand in continuing their studies. A common topic is how they learned from a different country and company culture and how to communicate better when working with people in different time zones.
The showcase presentations concluded with a Q&A session from the audience. One of the supervisors commented on the challenges and blessings that virtual internships can bring during this particular time and how the experience of a virtual internship can help young professionals begin developing a solid remote work ethic and learning to work independently and effectively outside of the office environment.
The past few weekends have been some of the most exciting of the entire semester, full of trips to the zoo, mountain hikes, ancient parks, and more! Our first trip out of many was a visit to the Beijing Zoo. I had mentioned earlier in the semester that I wanted to see some pandas, since I was in China after all, and our TBC friend Andy made it happen.
Spending a whole semester in Beijing, I knew I had to make the trip down south and check out Shanghai, and the city certainly lived up to the expectations. Everyone describes Shanghai as this super futuristic metropolis, and after spending a weekend there I understand why it has this reputation.