Seizing Opportunities
Almost as soon as she arrived on campus, Abena took advantage of the resources available to BU students.
“Like any top university, BU not only encourages students to pursue internships but has great resources to help students find opportunities. Through a networking event, I was able to get an internship as a Marketing & Sales Intern at PricewaterhouseCoopers the summer after my freshman year.”
One thing Abena loved about her time at BU?
“You are encouraged to take classes outside of your major. Because of my passion for travel and exploration of new cultures, I decided to start taking Mandarin. Chinese history and culture was something that was unfamiliar to me, but once I took a semester of the language, I was hooked. My newfound appreciation for the language and culture reassured me that choosing to concentrate in International Management within the Questrom School of Business was the right choice for me.”
She even decided to study abroad in Shanghai.
“I chose to go to China so I could strengthen my Mandarin language skills and immerse myself in a new culture. During the semester I was away, I was able to take Chinese courses and fulfill other requirements for my major. The ‘studying’ part was great, but I definitely took advantage of the ‘being abroad’ part too–from the Great Wall of China to the Rice Terraces of Longsheng to the rich history of Nanjing and the lilongs of Shanghai, and even Gangham in South Korea. More than anything, I appreciated that I was able to take the insight about Chinese culture I was learning in the classroom and experience it firsthand in my daily life.”
And after graduation?
“I was awarded the Critical Language Scholarship through the US State Department’s Culture and Education Exchange. Chinese is one 14 critical-need languages. It is a fully funded program that allowed me to study Mandarin intensively during the summer at Dalian University of Technology in China’s Liaoning Province.”