Phoebe Do '17 is an alumna of the Institute's Women in Leadership program.
Standing in the middle of Shanghai’s energetic and buzzing financial district, the connection to business is a natural one to make. To succeed in the increasingly interconnected global business world requires an understanding of different cultures and languages as well as experiences that mirror the real world.
Gettysburg College is preparing students to navigate the global marketplace by providing valuable connections to internships, opportunities to study globally, and ultimately—through support of Gettysburg Great: The Campaign for Our College—the transformation of Plank Gym into a state-of-the-art global center.
One of the College’s Affiliated Global Study programs, CET Shanghai, allows students to combine coursework in Chinese language and electives focusing on East Asia. This is one of the many programs available to students at Gettysburg College, which is currently second in the nation for its mid-length study abroad experiences, according to the 2016 Open Doors Report on International Education Exchange released by The Institute of International Education (IIE).
“The amazing thing about the internships with this program is that the internship supervisors are all incredibly accomplished business people and really take an interest in developing the students’ skills,” said Dan Albertson, Associate Director of the Center for Global Education.
The program also offers connections to a variety of fields, including media, STEM, history, law, education, sports, philanthropy, and music.
Read more about the experiences of three students: Phoebe Do ’17, Shahn Savino ’18 and James Arps ’18.
Phobe Do '17
Globalization Studies and Mathematical Economics double major
Do, who will graduate this May, recently signed a contract with Deloitte in New York to become a consultant. While she was abroad in Shanghai, she interned at Morgan Stanley in the Information Technology Department where she was given a project that involved extensive coding. She had no prior computer science experience, so she learned this skill in a completely new work culture with the guidance of a mentor.
“I always cite this internship as the proof that with my liberal arts education, I will be able to tackle any challenge at hand and work with anyone, regardless of the background,” said Do. “My experience in Shanghai was a period of time when I challenged all the things that I have learned to be norms, met the people that were totally different from me, and undertook adventure that I was not aware of.”
Do is currently studying in Egypt, but her goal is to return to Shanghai eventually due to her career, linguistic strength, and connections to China.
Shahn Savino ’18
International Affairs and East Asian Studies (Chinese track) double major
Savino was abroad in Shanghai with CET currently, and he completed an internship at Allison+Partners, a strategic public relations firm in the Changning District of Shanghai. His responsibilities included the translation of documents and writing of creative content while using his interest in Asian culture and Chinese language that he developed in high school.
“My last translation was on lung cancer and minimally invasive procedures,” said Savino. “The translations are the most fun and valuable thing that I do because they require me to not only learn new vocabulary, but it also really requires me to learn the nuances of both the Chinese and English languages.”
There is nothing more interesting to Savino than international political economy and learning about the political and economic reasons behind the interactions between countries.
“Being exposed to so many different viewpoints, ideologies, and lifestyles really forces me to think about simple things that I often overlook,” said Savino. “This has truly been a transformational experience.”
James Arps ’18
Computer Science and Mathematics double major
Arps was abroad in Shanghai with CET currently, and he interned at ViewFin Digital Assets, a blockchain technology firm specializing in digital asset solutions. High school and college level Chinese courses spurred Arps’s interest to pursue a semester in Shanghai, and he has progressed in his knowledge of mathematics and computer science through his internship abroad. ViewFin is a part of a technology industry that focuses on new financial technology along with in-depth encryption techniques and applications.
“It's easy to look at the abstract of a paper and just gloss over the results, but the experiences I gained in my Gettysburg courses are what motivates me to get out a pen and paper and spend an hour or two getting to the heart of what those results actually mean,” said Arps.
Originally posted on the Gettysburg College website.
Article by Andy Milone ’18, communications and marketing intern
Photo of Phoebe Do by David Zabriskie
Contact: Carina Sitkus, senior assistant director of communications, 717.337.6803
Posted: Tue, 27 Dec 2016