Coming from a heritage speaker background where I only had a basic understanding of the Chinese language and culture, I joined the Chinese Flagship Program during my sophomore year to improve all aspects of my Mandarin. The most memorable part of the program was having access to financial and educational support to go abroad to multiple cities in China three separate times. Each time abroad was a whole new experience in terms of educational rigour and cultural adaptation. These experiences prepared me to go into the increasingly global workplace as a working professional, specifically in how it allows me to approach problems from fresh perspectives. Some of my best friends today are those I’ve met in the program while abroad who were also in the Flagship program. I believe these experiences are forged through the sometimes difficult struggles of living in a foreign country for months at a time. The flagship program is really what you make of it so try your best to maximize your experiences at UH and abroad!
Flagship has been a defining moment in my undergraduate journey. I originally joined Flagship expecting to just improve my level of Chinese proficiency and possibly learn more about my own cultural heritage. I did not expect that by going through the Chinese Flagship program, I would be given so many different opportunities outside of just classroom learning. Through the course curriculum of flagship, I found enjoyment through highly collaborative projects and working alongside my peers and other Flagship students all across the U.S. as well. I found my Chinese proficiency propel from basic levels to intermediate and advanced levels quickly after opportunities to study abroad in highly established study abroad programs in Taiwan and China. I was able to meet students from all kinds of backgrounds and my view on what being in Flagship really means was expanded. It is a large community of like-minded individuals driven by their love of language and wanting to find ways to better the world through communication and finding common ground. Flagship always gave students bigger goals to look forward to on their language journey. From the classroom to different study abroad opportunities and finally achieving a level high enough to go to Capstone year. Now as an alumni, I want to give my thanks to Flagship for all the opportunities I received that I would have never dreamt of getting when I first started my flagship journey. I now work in a tech company that is continually innovating because Flagship has opened doors for me to step out of my comfort zone and strive for those bigger goals.
I joined the Chinese Flagship Program because it offered an opportunity to dive into the Chinese language and culture and develop a fluency level high enough to study and intern abroad. Although the program was challenging, it was equally as rewarding as I learned a lot about myself as a student and who I wanted to be as a working professional. The world is becoming increasingly global and it is beneficial to take that extra step of understanding the nuances of the world from a different perspective. As I navigate my career in Finance, I find myself continuing to find ways to leverage my experience in China to add value to my work. An added bonus is the amazing friendships you develop in this program – no one understands the struggle of memorizing characters like your fellow flagship peers!
