Emily Laur, IPD/ITED ’19

EAST ASIA PRACTICUM (CHINA & JAPAN)

First and foremost, the East Asia Practicum is a research opportunity. As research students we should be thankful for having had speakers so open to answering our questions — other graduate students might spend years trying to establish relationships in order to have just one of their questions answered, but there we were firing away. The most rewarding part of this journey for me was having the opportunity to get an uncensored account of what project approval looks like at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The discussion we had went beyond what was published on AIIB’s site and far beyond anything I had read in current literature leading up to the trip. The talk we had provided further insights into how the bank prioritizes its core values and suggested the direction the bank might take moving forward. I came to MIIS with the goal of someday working for the bank, so having the chance to see whether the bank takes its commitments to environmental sustainability seriously was not only a chance for me to conduct research, but also an opportunity to conduct an informational interview with an organizational lead which not only helped me to develop as a student, but as a professional.

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