Tundel signed up in the summer of 2009 for a two-week summer course led by Song Gao. Over the course of several weeks, the contingent visited, in addition to tourist spots like the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, many businesses based in China. Soon, Tundell’s thoughts of a basketball career faded into the distant past and he began thinking of pursuing a career in Asia. “Walking with Song and interacting with the Chinese students, it felt like China was very similar to the U.S. In the cities there’s not a huge cultural difference,” he says. Although Tundel hadn’t been out of the country before going on the first trip to China, it soon became evident that it was going to be easy to get him to return. In the summer of 2010, he spent time at an internship with Prime Public Relations, based in Beijing. One of the executives at the agency, Richard Stewart, is a 1993 Juniata graduate. Tundel spent the summer working at car shows, one of the agency’s main areas of business, and by the time summer drew to a close he knew China was in his future. He decided to study abroad at Dalian Finance and Economic University in Dalian, China (located on a peninsula of land roughly between Beijing and North Korea). Once he graduated, he decided to head for China again. Song was all for it. Matt’s mother less so. “She actually made me do a Powerpoint presentation to convince her to let me go,” laughs Tundel. “I think the convincing slide was one where I quoted Song in saying that students can earn $20 to $40 an hour to teach English.” So, Matt took the fast route to China, teaching English part time and enrolling in language classes at the University of Electronic Science and Technology in Chengdu, China. This September he starts a two-year program to earn a master’s degree in management services and finance. He also continues to teach English and has occasionally helped Ran Tu, a 2006 Juniata graduate currently working to help recruit prospective Chinese students for Juniata, with recruitment efforts in Chengdu. “I feel I owe my life today to Juniata,” he says. “I’d like to spread the word about the College in China.” Whatever the future holds, it’s a safe bet it will be happening in China. “Eventually I’d like to work for a multinational firm in the United States and traveling to China,” he says. >j<
…art muse
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…and cultural archit
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2013 Fall-Winter
Photos: curtesy of Matt Tundel
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