Janice Cao

Contact

jancao@wharton.upenn.edu

Ask me about…

• Traveling to other parts of Vietnamese (Da Nang, Hoi An, Hanoi, Mekong Delta, Da Lat, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc) and Thailand on weekends
• Traveling back to my parents’ home country, China, after the program and comparing the similarities and differences in cultures
• Trying a variety of Vietnamese dishes (Northern, Central, Southern Vietnamese cuisines) thanks to traveling to various Vietnamese regions
• Indulging in Vietnamese coffee culture (and drinking almost 5 different beverages a day)
• Taking on additional opportunities with Penn Abroad’s partner organization that connects us with our internships (mine was Abroader) – I MCed for Abroader’s 10th Anniversary Celebration, becoming a host for their party of 100 guests. I also immersed myself culturally by participating in learning a Vietnamese-style dance with the Abroader team and their local buddies. After work, we would meet up in a park with fellow interns who performed other cultural dances for the “World of Dance” performance at the party. I also got to wear a gorgeous ao dai, Vietnam’s national dress.
• Filming my weekend travels, editing them, and uploading the vlogs on Youtube

My Experience Abroad:

Working for a start-up that transformed Ho Chi Minh City’s engagement with public transportation overall gave me insight into the intersection between AI technology and public transportation. More deeply, though, this summer allowed me to explore my strengths and interests, which was especially important after coming out of my freshman year feeling completely lost.

Luckily, my supervisor was devoted to personally helping me grow my professional skills and interests. Throughout the summer, we talked through different career paths and she provided me with many resources on the job opportunities within consulting and the rest of the business industry.

Because I already knew I was passionate about sustainability, my supervisor started from there. She assigned me weekly tasks related to the company that were challenging, but also provided me enough time to further explore other academic interests. I conducted market research on technology services and public transportation within Southeast Asia, and learned how the two markets intersected to provide efficient transportation systems in developing cities. I organized data into various business frameworks, and presented my findings to my supervisor. Every week, my supervisor would give me feedback on how I could dig deeper into the research and improve both my research and presentations.

Although I can’t definitively say what I want to pursue post-grad, being under the guidance of my supervisor gave me insight into the realms of sustainability and marketing, and exposed me to the many career paths available to me within the business field.

Other Highlights:

• Celebrating my birthday with two amazing friends on a tropical island in Vietnam–snorkeling, last-minute cake run, and a dinner with a fire show
• Executing a big part of Abroader’s 10th Anniversary Celebration (from MCing to performing)
• My supervisor was more like a mentor to me than a boss. She really guided me on how to find my strengths as a person, and while giving me various tasks throughout the summer, she also encouraged me to explore my passions and new opportunities
• Making two best friends out of the program. I already had mutuals with one from Penn, and the summer abroad grew us closer through our similarly weird personalities and sustainable values. We also became close to a Princeton student as well, being isolated in a foreign country allowed us to depend on one another and be vulnerable while reflecting on our first years at our universities.