Co-op in China

Meet Doris and Shannon!

Hi everyone! Our names are Doris Zhang (Chinese international student in Business – Marketing) and Shannon Nicol (domestic Canadian student in Business Administration – Human Resources).

For our summer co-op in 2018, we travelled to China for six weeks on behalf of the #GoAbroadSquad and the Segal International Centre. This project was created to enhance partnerships with Georgian College and create potential job opportunities for alumni. Additionally, this co-op allows students to share their student experiences and engage with international students and local communities. 

We started our trip in Hong Kong, and over six weeks we travelled to 13 cities: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Foshan, Nanning, Xi’an, Baoji, Beijing, Jinan, Dongying, Louynag, Shenyang and Dalian. In each city, we gave multiple presentations about our student experiences at Georgian, life in Canada and life in Barrie. Our audiences included high school students, college/university students, agencies and parents. We were able to interact with students before or after presentations. Some of the activities included performances, dinners, attending classes, learning about tea art and hanging out! We were also fortunate enough to travel to major attractions across the country such as the Forbidden City, Great Wall of China and Terracotta Exhibit. 

This co-op was beneficial and insightful for both of us in a number of ways. It gave us the opportunity to travel and work with those from another culture, learn about the Chinese educational system and communicate with those who speak a different language from ours. We learned that language is typically the largest barrier for anyone when travelling, studying or working abroad, and in order to overcome this barrier you must practice and repeat. Culture is different in terms of what perspectives people have about the world around them, so it’s important to have an open mind and be open to learning about new cultures and traditions. 

This project was incredible – it allowed two students who may have never met to travel and work together for six weeks abroad and we hope other students have this same opportunity in the future!