Blogs

Ting Li is the Director of International Engineering Student Engagement. She shares how her personal journey impacted her choice to work in international education.

What has influence or shaped your passion for international education/exchange?

My personal experience studying in the United States as an international student both in college and graduate school and then later undergoing the process to search for a job.  I understand how challenging certain times of this journey were for me.  As a result, I took the opportunity to work in a field in which I could help other international students, so that I could share what I learned from my own personal journey.

In your opinion, what are some benefits to international education/exchange?

Having diversity is important.  International students bring their culture with them and that is valuable to society.  It provides our U.S. students, faculty and staff an opportunity to learn about different cultures without having to step out of the country.  International students bring a unique and different perspective.  Specifically, in the School of Engineering, engineers are problems solvers and our student population represents students from around the world.  This diversity provides an opportunity to learn about different ideas from different backgrounds and ultimately it helps engineers solve problems in creative ways. 

As a staff member, how do you promote international education/exchange or expand intercultural experiences whether through campus, community or around the world?

Part of my role is to support international engineering students and another part is to develop intercultural competence in the School of Engineering community.  Both parts promote international education.  When working with students I try to connect them to campus resources and partners so that they can learn more about American culture as well as the expectations in an American college setting.  Currently, I’m hosting a lunch series for international students and we focus on various topics like resources, career development and culture.  We recently hosted a pumpkin carving event to engage international engineering students with Tau Beta Pi members while experiencing this American fall tradition.  I’m also working with international engineering students to create presentations to share cultures from their home countries with faculty and staff.  We are also dedicating a session during our January all School of Engineering faculty and staff meeting on intercultural competence topics.

Where is a place you have always wanted to explore and why?

There are so many places but my top place is Africa as a whole.  I’m learning how diverse this region is and about the many countries, languages and cultures that exist there.  The difficult part is deciding which country to start with.  It is a fascinating place and I have never had the opportunity to visit.

Where are some places you have traveled that have expanded your perspective of yourself and the world?

I went to Europe a few years ago.  Specifically, I went to Switzerland and France.  As someone from China, and having learned more about Asian history, the history of this part of the world really fascinated me.  I was also impressed by the architecture.  I recall visiting the markets in Paris and being reminded of China because of the size of the crowds and layout of the markets.  These small similarities surprised me. 

If you had to pick a life motto or quote, what would it be? Why?

I saw something the other day that I found to be interesting: “The stranger sees only what he knows.” My interpretation of this is that we only see what we know and we interpret situations based on our own experiences and backgrounds which can be limiting.  We should let our differences lead to curiosity and our curiosity lead to wanting to know more and finding out why.  This African proverb is essentially describing one important characteristic of human perception which is causing problems for people trying to understand a different culture.