East and West

Five years ago, I was privileged to direct the Sigmund Weis School of Business (SWSB) London Program. Now, of course, I’m with the first cohort of Susquehanna students in our exchange program with the University of Macau. As the current experience in Macau has developed, several people have asked how the two programs compare. In many respects, the programs are so different that in many dimensions they practically defy comparison.

The SWSB London Program is for junior business majors who take SU courses, only with each other, in a somewhat familiar environment, and in the world’s most expensive city. The program is highly structured, and all students enroll in the same four courses, partly so that everyone stays on track for graduation. They live with each other, go to class together and generally are together 24/7. The SWSB professor who directs the program sees them regularly, teaching one of the courses and serving as counselor and “go-to” person. Students bond with each other to an extraordinary degree and form what I am sure will be lifetime friendships. They travel in small groups all over Europe on weekends, seeing the Western heritage that most of them share. They move out of their accustomed “comfort zone” and become seasoned, competent travelers, comfortable throughout Europe. They have a ball, learn about European and international business practices, get exposed to fine arts through the Theatre course and learn mostly about their own capabilities.

The new exchange program with the University of Macau is available to all Susquehanna sophomores and juniors, who join between 50 and 80 other exchange students from around the world in taking regular courses. Like students in other study abroad programs, they work closely with their academic advisers in selecting courses that will keep them on track for graduation. The University of Macau teaches in English, and with the exception of recommended courses in Chinese culture and language, an exchange student often is the only non-Chinese student in a class. While many exchange students get to know each other well and travel together, they also get to know Chinese students, both from here in Macau and from the Chinese mainland. Food, housing, transportation and clothing are all considerably less expensive than in the U.S.

Students in Macau are more “on their own” than in the London Program. Their comfort zones are stretched farther than in London, by virtue of the fact that they are in a much different culture than the one in which they probably grew up. They study harder simply because everyone studies harder at an Asian university, and because the program attracts more serious students who are taking a large leap of faith in coming to Asia. They travel to exotic locations in Asia, but have full class schedules that limit the frequency with which they can get away from Macau. They see sights that are utterly different from what they’ve seen all their lives, from monkeys scurrying around Cambodian temples to thousands of people on motorbikes in virtually every city, to the frenzy of Hong Kong harbor, to the amazing markets selling everything from live octopi to knockoff Nike running shoes. Students in the Macau exchange program learn about Asia by being in the midst of it, from the international faculty at the university, from fellow exchange students representing over 20 countries, from Chinese people they meet as classmates and friends. And, of course, they learn mostly about their own capabilities.

Both programs are strongly supported by Susquehanna. In both, students pay regular Susquehanna tuition. In both, they receive round-trip airfare and at least two multi-day, expense-paid trips to a major venue away from London or Macau. London students typically go to Prague and Rome, taking company tours and making presentations to business executives. This semester, Macau students enjoyed a 12-day study tour to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and also visited the Guilin area.

What the programs have most in common is that they are both life-changing cross-cultural immersion experiences. Students are exposed to differences, grow comfortable in a different milieu, and come to appreciate and participate in that difference. In every respect, the opportunity to study abroad is a gift, and one that too many students choose to leave unopened. My hope is that, just as the London Program has become part of the SWSB culture, the Macau exchange will similarly become part of what many SU students expect to do as part of their education. Two of the students in Macau this term participated in the SWSB London Program last fall, and at least one of the SU students here will participate in the London Program next year. Think of it, these students will complete four years of college AND will have lived in both Europe and Asia. Think how well they are preparing themselves for the global community that increasingly influences our daily lives. Think how confident they are becoming in different cultures, able to negotiate logistics that many classmates would find simply overwhelming, gaining some genuine cross-cultural understanding, and in the process understanding themselves and their own culture more deeply.

Who would not want to open a gift like this? The answer, unfortunately, is that students often don’t know what they don’t know, and aren’t sufficiently curious to go and find out. Almost always, students who take the leap of faith discover, to their amazement, that THEY can do it, that it’s not that hard, really, and that the reward is to be seeing and experiencing the broader world. In that regard, consider the following quote from Dag Hammarskjold, former Secretary General of the United Nations: “Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was.”