First-year IMBA Students Volunteer for Mingle Lunch with Advisory Board Members and Tsinghua Alumni

October 26, 2011 marked the 12th Annual Meeting of Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board. Held at Tsinghua University Main Building, a total of 29 Advisory Board Members engaged in the assembly. This year, several first-year International MBA students volunteered for the mingle lunch session with various Advisory Board Members and Tsinghua Alumni. For many students, this year's meeting was their first, bringing out great excitement to the campus.

Talk with Sir John Bond, C, Former Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings PL
Katarina Cheng
"I am glad that I had the chance talking and sharing my thoughts with someone experienced, kind, and with wisdom---Mr. Bond. He encouraged me to go after my goal and never stop dreaming big. Though the talk was short, I could still feel the passion he has for youngsters. If one day I become someone like him, I would definitely pass on the warmth I felt today to benefit more 'dream chasers."

Talk with Terry Gou, Chairman and CEO of FOXCONN Technology Group
Katarina Cheng
"Both coming from Taiwan, I enjoyed the talk with Mr. Gou very much. He shared with us his experience in building his business in China; he said: "you have to be where your businesses are, no matter how far or how rural the places are," which inspired me deeply."

Chris Pan
"It was an exhilarating and eye-opening experience for all of us. For the first time, we were actually sharing one room with so many business celebrities who often show on newspaper front pages. I was assigned to interpret for two Tsinghua SEM alumni, one was Ms Li, a lady entrepreneur in her late forties who founded a construction company in Tianjin, the other was Mr. Rao, a gentleman in his 30s who founded an internet company in Shenzhen. Across the table sat the Chairman of Chili Luksic Group, who expressed great interest in cooperating with Ms Li in her construction programs. Out of respect for the two alumni I was assigned to serve, I didn't walk away to any other better known figures. I listened attentively and was amazed at how many business opportunities such a quick lunch meeting could bring to the attendants. Knowing that this great platform is actually available for ourselves too in the future, we couldn't help but feeling excited."

Alexander Wang
"I found that being an interpreter for the Advisory Board meeting was more of a motivating, rather than a networking, experience. Being in the same room as these highly successful individuals, who you mostly read about in newspapers or watch on tv, I was able to grasp the feeling that they're actually fairly similar to us. With relentless hard work, unwavering persistence, and a clear vision, we can also have a chance at achieving the same success of these individuals."

Talk with Dr. Nohria, Dean of Harvard Business School
Jane Sun
"It was a wonderful experience to be part of the interpreter team on Wednesday, during the lunch with the advisory board and Tsinghua alumni. We had the opportunity to have a pleasant talk with Dr. Nohria, Dean of Harvard Business School. When asked what kind of advice he would like to give us, he said at present it was the best time to start our own businesses in China, "You can just sniff the opportunities everywhere, so, grasp them. Later after lunch, I also had the chance for further discussion with Dr. Nohria on the subject of education. Since I was in education management before I came to Tsinghua so I would like to know how Dr. Nohria think about Chinese students going abroad to study in U.S. He thought that China has very good educational resources, and he doesn't see there is any necessity for the students to go abroad. When I asked him how they evaluate students when it comes to admission, he said out of 11 candidates, they would interview 4, and only 1 would be finally admitted. And nowadays they pay much more attention to the interview results than testing scores. He also encouraged students to get actively involved in social activities, like Charity and MUN, etc., which demonstrate good sense of social responsibility."