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s a in t v in c en t q u a rterl y
Olivia Oli
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Total Immersion: Curiosity, China, Captivate Marketing Major By Simon Clayton C 12
F
or as long as I can remember, I have always been curious about the world. As a student at Saint Vincent College, I have had the opportunity to satisfy some of that curiosity, most recently by spending a semester abroad in China. Before that I traveled to Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) India, to volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity Sisters. When I arrived at Saint Vincent as a freshman, never did I imagine that I would live on the other side of the world for six months. Never did I imagine that I would visit the Great Wall of China, hike 12 miles in the Tiger Leaping Gorge, a canyon on the Yangtze River, and spend a weekend in the Tenggeli Desert in northern China’s Inner Mongolia. It has been said that to be fully immersed in a culture is the best way to embrace it and to understand it. When my family saw me off at 3 a.m. on February 13, I was on my way to total immersion. After my 12-hour flight I was greeted at the Beijing Capital International Airport by my residence hall director and with the sounds of people conversing in different languages. I was no longer in a familiar place. Yikes! After a weeklong orientation to get acquainted with our peers, the food and our home for the next six months, my new friends and I walked around Wu Dao Kou in northwest Beijing filled with excitement. One of my friends spoke Mandarin fluently so we did not have too much trouble finding our way around. The area was revamped for the 2008 Olympic
Games, and newer restaurants and clubs complemented the traditional street food vendors and restaurants. While in China I attended Tsinghua University in Beijing. In addition to classes, I wanted to be sure that I did something related to my marketing major. With the help and advice of Dr. Gary Quinlivan, Dean of the Alex G. McKenna School of Business, Economics, and Government at Saint Vincent, I obtained an internship at Beijing Priority
Consulting, a business consulting firm that represented local Chinese and Pennsylvania firms. I met many business executives from different parts of the world and assisted in preparing for an exclusive “Mission to China” for small businesses in Pittsburgh. My time living in China was definitely not like living in Latrobe or my hometown of Newark, New Jersey. I was on my own. There were many hard lessons and many achievements. Saint Vincent,
its monks, faculty and staff members, and my fellow students helped provide me with the necessary tools to become successful. I have many memories that will last a lifetime. I made the most of my opportunity to travel halfway across the world, to live, eat and breathe and learn about China and its culture, as well as the culture in India. I hope many other students will be able to have that same opportunity.
Simon at the Great Wall of China.
Simon Clayton, C 12, of Newark, New Jersey, attended Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School.
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