Article by Ingrid Lombardo, CET China Programs Manager, featured in The China Business Review!
Ingrid Lombardo, CET China Programs Manager, recently wrote an article that was published in The China Business Review describing how technology has dramatically altered the way CET communicates with its program staff in China. CET Executive Director, Mark Lenhart, CET Communications Director, Jocelyn Flint, and CET alumna, Elvira Hammond (Assistant Professor at New Mexico State , are also featured.
Elvira Hammond, pictured above in her student identification card, recalls the challenges of communicating with friends and family in the United States when she was a student in China in 1983.
As a student in Beijing in 1983, Elvira Hammond’s primary communication with home was by letter. All mail, coming and going, was opened and read by the Chinese post office. Hammond once received a mix tape in the mail with the first hour of music erased and replaced with sounds of the post office. She received one international phone call all semester—the news that she had been admitted to Stanford University. This call cost $30.
This year CET Academic Programs—which sends roughly 650 study abroad students to China every year—will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary in China. As we plan our celebration, we are reconnecting with program alumni and staff from decades gone by, which has made us reflect on changes in China over the past 30 years. One of those changes is how technology has dramatically altered how we communicate with program staff and students.
CET Academic Programs