I would have never imagined I would travel all around the world in 2024 in my final year as a senior at A&M. During the summer, I had the opportunity to participate in a faculty-led program to Italy while visiting Malta, Sicily, and Rome. That was my first time out of the United States and it was nothing but amazing to experience all the new culture and a vastly different way of life. I loved the trip so much that I immediately signed up for the next study abroad I could attend, which was this winter in Asia visiting the countries of Singapore and Bangkok, Thailand. Throughout my second experience abroad, I am intrigued to learn how businesses and the culture of life in Asia compare to Italy and the United States. I mainly hope to learn the importance of how Asia differs in business practices when it comes to marketing and supply chain.
Before the trip, we had multiple class meetings where the class was assigned various subjects to make presentations about the cultures, businesses, and places we will be traveling to present. Through these presentations, we were able to learn very useful information regarding the enforced laws, how to travel through transportation, and clothing requirements that were extremely useful to learn and made us knowledgeable about the countries.
My initial impression of Singapore when arriving in the country was all the modern architecture and advanced technology that makes the city so unique. The country is filled with greenery and is very clean with no sight of litter anywhere. This is due to strict laws that enforce a clean environment such as no chewing gum, no eating or drinking in the train stations, and walk/stand on accurate sides of the road. A way of living that creates a structure for the fine city to operate effectively and nothing like the United States where such rules are not enforced.
Throughout my time there, we were able to visit and learn about the Singapore shipping channel, the 2nd largest port in the world, with its importance within global business trade. We took a local business cooking class in Chinatown where we prepared a local dish called Laksa. Explored Sentosa Island by taking a trip to Universal Studios! Finally, my favorite, visiting Gardens by the Bay which is a large ecosystem filled with the most beautiful environment I have ever seen.
Overall, thus far this trip has been breathtaking with exploring new environments local customs, and new forms of transportation. I can’t wait to see how vastly different Thailand is from Singapore!!