Reflecting on this trip, the biggest takeaway is that seeing a country’s economic shift in person is completely different from reading about it in a textbook. At Pitt, we often discuss emerging markets or global development in an abstract way, but walking through Saigon and the Mekong Delta grounded those concepts in reality. I will…

How success is defined in Vietnam depends entirely on which generation you are asking, but in a professional sense, it is tied heavily to status and the corporate ladder. Success here is defined by high-paying corporate jobs and the ability to show off that wealth through consumption. It is very common to see people wearing…

Studying business abroad provides useful insights inside the classroom, but some of the most distinct lessons happen entirely outside of program coursework. Navigating the streets of Vietnam has forced me to look at infrastructure, public space, and advertising through a new lens. When compared to the car-centric, corporate-dominated landscape of Pittsburgh, the daily reality here…

I’m officially heading to Vietnam for the Pitt Business Plus3 program, and I couldn’t be more excited. This trip is a big deal for me because it’s my first time traveling to Asia, and I chose this specific program because Vietnam is such a fascinating case study in business right now. It is an incredibly…