Hi! My name is Jessica and I am a rising junior studying Biology and Global Health, and I’m also on the premed track. I’m so excited to be studying abroad this summer and to be blogging about my experience. I chose to study abroad in Beijing on the Public Health in China program so I could learn about another country’s public health system and challenges, improve my Mandarin, and get to explore the rich cultural history of Beijing. I’ve been to Beijing twice before because some of my family members live there and I’ve seen some of the sights, but it’ll be an entirely different experience living in a dorm and not having my parents there to translate for me. I think it’ll be an interesting experience seeing how I fare with my third grade level Chinese.
I am particularly excited for taking public health and Chinese classes and for the food (so excited for the food!). I hope by the end of the program that I’ll have a better understanding of the challenges of health care from an international perspective, have learned about China and its culture, and have made some good memories along the way. It’s still pretty unbelievable to me that I’ll be studying abroad this summer, which is something that’s been on my bucket list since I got to college.
Right now I’m at O’Hare waiting for my flight. I’ll be in China a couple days before my program starts so hopefully I’ll have some time to settle in before all the madness of classes starts. I’m sitting here excited and slightly nervous, but most of all I can’t wait to get to Beijing!
Bye Chicago!