Joshua has given EnterpriseUpfront a truly inspirational and
motivational account of his PMGF experience which is sure to leave you
asking yourself “who do I know that could apply for the forthcoming 2010
fellowship?”
The 100 fellows, representing a truly multi-cultural and multi-ethnic
Britain, were immediately plunged into a 6 week tailor-made programme of
three parts:
Cultural and linguistic immersion
Working on a research project in collaboration with their peers in a local school
Time as a guest of a global company, investigating how international
business and its social responsibilities impact on local communities.
Global Fellow – Joshua King writes:
My time in China from 22nd July to 6th September was the best six
consecutive weeks of my life! When I arrived I was greeted by a large,
vibrant and busy community that by the outward glance seemed to be close
knit and insightful.
The first two weeks were in Beijing where myself and 39 other fellows
stayed at the Beijing Normal university international visitor’s suite.
Every morning we would have 3 hours of intensive language lessons, then
during midday we would be greeted with Chinese culture sessions such as
paper cutting.
The afternoons were the best, it was then that we visited great exhibits
such as the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City and summer palace.
The highlight for me was sitting in a traditional Chinese theatre after a
12 course meal that included donkey and jelly fish to watch kung fu
shows, acrobatics and Beijing opera.
Shanghai was another world in itself! Have you ever wondered why every City in China is called a country, well besides the fact that each province has its own dialect the landscape and culture is also very different.
For the final part of the programme we visited global companies
gaining an insight into their operations and business principles. As
guest at HSBC Bank China I saw their strong commitment to corporate
social responsibility, as they support extensive educational,
environmental and charitable projects. It was a privilege to spend time
at HSBC, as well as to meet Richard Yorke, HSBC China’s CEO, who kindly
gave up his valuable time to listen to our questions and offer us
advice. After speaking to the heads of departments I believe that my
understanding of China’s market and where they see themselves in the
global arena has improved. The last two weeks gave us the opportunity to
visit the Expo arena and also specialist universities.
All in all China has truly changed my life, my degree and my thoughts on
life, I am now going to be studying international management with 1
year abroad in China, furthermore what ever career I choose will have to
be both international and China friendly, I look forward to meeting
Gordon Brown and conveying my experiences.
If you know someone leaving school or taking a gap year, I would urge you to promote the fellowship to them; it might just change their life.
For further information on the Prime Ministers Global Fellowship visit www.global-fellowship.org