A summary of this trip: We immersed ourselves in learning various aspects of management and leadership on university campuses. For us teenagers, this will be beneficial for a lifetime and greatly help our future studies.
Secondly, although this trip to the US was a study tour organized by the school, what impressed us most about the it was the three weeks of life in the US. Everyone helped each other like a family, and teachers took good care of every student. These three weeks of life in the US have benefited us a lot. We gained rich experience of living abroad and added a beautiful episode of friendships to our lives.
We departed from Shanghai Pudong Airport, transferred in South Korea, and after a long flight filled with anticipation, finally arrived in Los Angeles. We joined the queue waiting to enter the country.
After getting through the entry inspection at last, we dragged our heavy suitcases, got into the business car that came to pick us up, and headed to our dormitory. At 11 o'clock at night in Los Angeles, we met Teacher Li. We were assigned our rooms and fell asleep from tiredness.
During the two weeks on the Claremont College campus, we got up at seven o'clock. The teachers thoughtfully prepared a rich and nutritious breakfast for us. Then we walked to the college. Along the way, we enjoyed the small town with American characteristics, looked up at the cloudless blue sky, and experienced a life completely different from that in China.
In Professor Hideki's class during the first week, we learned what a brand is, and also studied and created our own brands and tags. In his class, we learned how to summarize our abilities and strengths. In the first class after arriving in the US, we initially created a brand, and each person's work got feedback from the professor. After Professor Hideki's course ended, we recorded videos to introduce our brands. This time, the introduction was more comprehensive and concise, showing our great progress.
In classes with Professor Becky and Professor Ashley, we filled out questionnaires to identify our own leadership styles. We systematically learned about different types of leaders and various aspects of leadership. By comparing the questionnaires, we got a better understanding of our strengths and the weaknesses we need to improve.
By sharing our own advantages and disadvantages, we could better play our roles in team tasks. During the class activities, we enjoyed the happiness brought by the team and gained a great sense of achievement and made progress while "playing".
In Professor Pick's class, we learned about Mr. Drucker's experiences and the example of Starbucks' brand startup. These examples tied together the knowledge we had learned before and also helped us better understand the process of business development.
In the first two weeks, while taking courses, we also had to learn to apply our knowledge. Our project was to simulate producing a batch of birdhouse products, and at the end of the two weeks, we would give a presentation summarizing what we had learned.
Every evening during study time, Teacher Judy and local American student volunteers would explain things to us and help us understand the class content and work on the project. While making the project, we learned to use things like business model forms and business plan division of labor forms, and built our products step by step from scratch.
At the weekend after the first week, we visited the former residence of the famous management professor, Mr. Drucker. The manager of the house showed us the items Mr. Drucker used during his lifetime. Then, students from Drucker Institute introduced us to Drucker's books and famous quotes, as well as some local American organizations with similar structures.
In the afternoon, we explored and had fun in Drucker's former residence. Visiting the former residence was not boring at all. We relaxed and enjoyed the drinks in the fridge. Some students sat together chatting, some talked with teachers about questions, and others played volleyball around Mr. Drucker's swimming pool.
We had a barbecue feast at Drucker's house. The delicious food was one of the reasons why this trip to the US was loved by the students.
To make our trip to the US more colorful, we tried outdoor barbecue. Students and teachers worked together to prepare this delicious meal to enjoy.
Besides studying, our schedule also included gaining life experience. We went to a shopping mall in Los Angeles, where everyone freely bought items they liked.
We got to enjoy the famous Santa Monica Beach in Los Angeles. We spent time in the sea, which washed away the tiredness from the drive. We felt the comfort of the seaside and admired the beautiful architectural styles.
To help us international students with college choices, during this trip to the US, we visited many well-known American universities, such as UCLA, UCB, USC, UCSB, USF, Stanford, and many others.
During our visit to UCLA, we learned about the school's mascot and its history from our teacher. We visited the teaching buildings of several famous majors in the school. We also went to the souvenir shop and bought souvenirs.
During our visit to UCSB, we booked a student tour to show us around the campus. We learned about the university's dormitory arrangements, how it takes care of out-of-town students, and some meal selection policies.
At USF, we attended a lecture by an admissions officer. We learned about the university's admission requirements and got a more practical sense of how far we are from our target school.
We visited an art exhibition on LGBT themes. While looking at the artworks, we read their introductions, understood the artistic connotations the artists wanted to express, and felt the inclusive culture of the United States.
We drove to Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the premise of ensuring safety, we walked freely on the street and visited the local scenic spots of Los Angeles.
We went to an art garden. This huge exhibition garden houses artworks of various styles, such as abstract, modern, classical, and sculpture art. There are also characteristic buildings and plants from various countries and regions in this art garden.
We visited Warner Bros. Studios, which is the filming location for many movies. We took a sightseeing bus to tour many movie sets and got a glimpse behind the scenes of various films. At the same time, the guide's explanations helped us learn a lot of and understand the creative process behind the movies. It was a very special trip.
The biggest highlight was our trip to Universal Studios Hollywood. This visit gave us a more practical understanding of movie-making. Those familiar movie scenes and characters are no longer just images on the screen, but real scenes we could experience firsthand.
By trying different attractions, we saw the work behind movie special effects and set designs. We realized that presenting a good movie requires the collaboration of many people and careful polishing. This made us better appreciate the difficulty of making movies, and we also felt the power of combining creativity and technology. This understanding of "how to turn ideas into reality" was the greatest gain from this trip.
On our drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco, we passed by the natural wonder—17-Mile Drive. We came across that Monterey cypress tree, which grows on a granite cliff and is over 250 years old, and took a photo of it for our album.
Fisherman's Wharf was crowded with people. As soon as we got off the car, we could smell all kinds of delicious food. The sea breeze carried the scents of steak and seafood into our noses. The bustling seaside town caught our eyes everywhere. We had the most unforgettable meal at Fisherman's Wharf.
The Golden Gate Bridge is a landmark of San Francisco and has appeared in many movie scenes. It was also part of our trip this time. The bridge loomed in the clouds and mist, as majestic as the imposing mountains.
We drove into San Francisco's urban area along the way. The streets, like those in Chongqing, China, rise and fall. This kind of landform has created unique architectural and housing characteristics, allowing us to see the distinctive life of local residents.
