Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology

that has cascaded throughout Hong
Kong, China, and the rest of the East. In
addition to these two engineering
courses, I treated myself to a psychology
elective, while also taking a very
interesting and relevant course on
population development in China and
its economic and sociopolitical effects on
the country.
One of my major objectives in going
abroad was to create a network of
international friendships, especially
Europeans. The cultural differences
between the West and East, both at the
university and in the city, provided for a
very unique social setting in which
exchange students easily bonded. As a
result, I can now trace friendships all
across the world. Of course, I have
notable friendships back in Hong Kong,
including my roommate who was a
local student.
In addition, going abroad has given me
several opportunities already, especially
as I can attribute my current summer
internship to going abroad. I will be
working in Europe, though my main
focus will be on the company’s market
presence in China. And while I am in
Europe, I now have several friends I
hope to visit to relive those memorable
experiences we had together in Hong
Kong.
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly,
the abroad experience allows for an
unbelievable ability to travel and to
truly gain a new perspective on the
world. While abroad, I was able to
travel to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam,
Singapore, and to an overwhelming
amount of locations in China including
near-by Macau, Beijing, Shanghai,
Guilin, and Nanning. Traveling through
Asia was perhaps as valuable to my
experience as living in Hong Kong itself.
My range of experiences included
staying in the rebuilt town in Thailand
that was completely razed during the
Boxing Day Tsunami, taking a 24 hour
sleeper bus by myself to cross the
border into Vietnam, visiting the tallest
building in the world in Shanghai,
seeing one of the most beautiful
sceneries in the world in Guilin; this list
does not do it justice. In addition,
traveling through China was truly one
of the most eye opening experiences – it
was the only way to actually get a real
glimpse of the country’s past, while
providing insight as to where it may be
headed in the future. After seeing it first
hand, all I can say is to hold on tight!
Zuri Michan is a junior in the Jerome Fisher
Program (M&T’12) from San Diego, CA.
He is concentrating in Operation and
Information Management and an
Individualized concentration in Strategic
Behavior in Wharton and majoring in
Infrastructure Systems Engineering in the
School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Outside of academics, Zuri is a member of
Pennchants (All-Male A Cappella group),
Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity and the M&T
Club.
Vol. 3 M&T 6