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Voices of ACES Blog

An Ambassador in China

ACE students discussing policy.

I feel fortunate to have had so many positive experiences with ACE, especially with experiential learning. In reality, it just goes to show many amazing opportunities ACE students have at their fingertips. In May, I began my summer with a trip to China with the International Business Immersion Program (IBIP)!

The trip was incredible, as was the prior semester where the class worked on intensive research projects and prepared in depth for our international travels. While in China, we got to visit multinational companies, regulators, farmers and local companies, along with many amazing tourist destinations. My favorite adventure of the trip was probably our day spent climbing the Great Wall, but I found another particular stop very exciting, as well.

Toward the end of the two-week IBIP study tour, we visited McDonald’s Corporation in Shanghai where we toured their Hamburger University and learned from professionals there. It was exciting to learn about the foreign operations of an international company like McDonald’s in a significant expanding market like China, and even more exciting to me as I interned at the McDonald’s headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois upon my return home in June!

 Visiting the Hamburger University in Shanghai on a Thursday and beginning my Intern Orientation at the Hamburger University in Oak Brook the very next Monday was a whirlwind, but I loved every minute of it. I definitely had some great conversation starters for introductions to the people on my team! Throughout my internship I got to see how McDonald’s operates across the globe, even though I was working in the US business. Because of IBIP, I had a much stronger understanding of the diverse worldwide presence of the company. The perspective I gained through the program helped me greatly on my projects for the summer. IBIP was an amazing learning experience and it helped me gain the most I could from my summer internship with McDonald’s Corporation. I urge you to take advantage of every experiential learning opportunity you can with ACE!