【Interview】ACT Global Program:Judy Li(IBMBA)

Embrace the World; Be Open-minded

Judy Li, class 106 of IBMBA National Sun Yat-Sen University, had just completed the ACT Global Program in this year. “The greatest reward of the journey is to witness the growth of myself, and making friends all around the world enlarges my friendzone as well ’’ she said. Here are the abstract of the experience that Judy shared:

  1. Motivation and expectation for the ACT program:
    I first found the information of ACT Global Program when I was preparing for applying IBMBA, and I had huge interest in this program. Back in college, I did not have any experience of studying abroad, so I looked forward to visiting different countries across 3 continentals, while at the same time, experiencing various cultures and understanding distinct educational systems. Additionally, ACT Global Program also provided German courses, which I’ve been learning since college, so while I am studying business courses, I could at the same time practice my German.
  2. The remarkable things in terms of academic aspects during ACT program:
    In Canada UVIC: The proactiveness of foreign students surprises me, and they are all eager to voice out their ideas. The way that lectures carried out is mostly by group discussion, so that we could always came up with new ideas.
    In Taiwan NSYSU: I had a strong impression toward company visits, because unlike my previous anticipation, some traditional industries are trying very hard to transform themselves. Furthermore, the course of Innovation and Entrepreneurship gave us lots of opportunities to develop our creativity, and to see our ideas being executed in the real company that are cooperating with us.
    In Austria JKU: Consulting courses are the main focus in JKU, so we have deeper interaction with local companies, in ways such as meetings and discussions with executives of the company. Therefore, I profoundly and personally assimilate myself into the European business environment.
  3. The unforgettable experiences in terms of cultural aspects during ACT program:
    In Canada: The city which our school is located, Victoria, has lots of wild animals, such as deer, raccoon. Every time when going to school or heading school, there always some surprises to encounter different animals.
    In Taiwan: The experience of going to KTV and riding scooters fascinate our foreign classmates, and the culture of garbage trucks surprise them the most. When they first heard the music of garbage trucks, some of my classmates are excitedly rushing out trying to buy ice cream.
    In Austria: Austria is a country that speaks German, so I could improve my German ability very fast.
    On the other hand, what impresses me the most is that countries are close to each other in Europe, and the flight tickets are often incredibly cheap, so we actually traveled a lot and experienced different cultures.
  4. What are the challenges or difficulties you encountered during ACT program?
    I would say cross-culture communication and cooperation is the hardest part. The composition of our team members is diversified, so we need to make sure that we have efficient communication during each meeting in order to complete every teamwork. Plus, during interaction with teammates, sometimes if you do not express your ideas clearly or your teammate is too aggressive, you will often be neglected.
  5. What are your self-improvements after ACT program?
    Apart from improvements of my languages’ abilities, I also learned how to take care of myself outside of my comfort zone. In addition, due to different cultural impacts, I found out that I could analyze things through multiple perspectives. For instance, I was used to stuck in minor things and trouble myself, but after participating in ACT Global Program, I realized that the world is much bigger than I thought, and actually, my ability is far beyond my imagination as well. Having these experiences enabled me to analyze problems or challenges in various angles, and to see things in other people’s shoes.
  6. How does the experience of ACT program assist you in your current occupation?
    The experiences of ACT Global Program help me during the interviews of job seeking. During ACT, we need to present and express our opinions almost on a daily basis, so it really strengthens my oral expression during interviews.
  7. How would you advise students who look forward to joining ACT program?
    ACT Global Program has many group discussion and pre-course reading materials, so make sure your English ability is at certain level so that you won’t be too stressed during the program. Secondly, I would be great if you start to learn some basic German before joining ACT Global Program. Last but not least, be open-minded to embrace the world, and don’t be shy to start a conversation to make friends all around the world.