I Wish…Vietnam
By Blaine Marc Relatado (B.A.S. International Business student, North Seattle College)
An affordable study-abroad program, what is it like?
Winter quarter was about to end, and I was taking the train on my way to work. I was checking my email and saw a message from one of my instructors. It was about a study-abroad program to Vietnam which focuses on global trade and supply chains. My brain was too occupied with deadlines and exams, but something was telling me to further check on it. Hours later, I got a message from one of my classmates. She was asking if I saw the email and if I was going to apply for it. I told her I was having second thoughts.
A big reason I decided to work on my Bachelor of Applied Science in International Business degree at North Seattle was that I come from a foreign country where I was studying business, and it sounded cool at the time (I still find it cool). However, in full honesty, I still did not have a concrete plan on what to use this degree for and in which area I should focus on. My current job is in sales and retail, but I wanted something that is more globally related.
Before, whenever I heard people talking about supply chains, I would just go on and wonder what that is without doing research on it. Then the pandemic hit the world and affected everyone, and those two words would pop frequently in news headlines. The new prominence of supply chains in the pandemic and the study abroad opportunity I learned about pushed me to dive deeper into global trade and supply chains.
Just a couple of days after that conversation I had with my classmate, I submitted my application for the “Follow the Supply Chain to Vietnam Study Abroad Program.” I was told to wait for a month to hear about the results, whether I got accepted or not. So, I patiently waited.
On the 13th of May 2022, I received a confirmation email from the director of Bachelor of Applied Science Programs at North Seattle College. The first line of it read exactly this “If you are receiving this email (there are 5 of you) it means that you’ve got a spot this fall in the “Follow the Supply Chain” trip to Vietnam. Congratulations!” My heart was beating fast, and I could not contain the excitement to myself, so I texted some of my friends right away.
So, an affordable study-abroad program, what is it like?
Well, it was such an extraordinary and splendid experience! I got to know a lot of new people since I traveled with 11 other students who have remarkably diverse backgrounds. Getting to know them was one part of the trip that made it even more memorable. We bonded together even before then since we met twice for orientations, and we also visited two companies that are based in Washington – Brooks Sports and Columbia Marketing International (CMI) orchards.
We landed in Vietnam on the 9th of September and that was the beginning of all the greatness that happened. Not only did I gain new companions from the United States, but I also made new Vietnamese friends as we were joined by students from local universities in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. They were sweet and welcoming individuals that made our stay feel like home. I believe that I could speak for the rest of the group on this, but we wish we could have stayed longer.
This trip also helped me decide what to focus on in my career. As of this writing, I am actively looking for internship opportunities that deal with supply chain. Right now, I am waiting for an interview for an aircraft manufacturing company in Seattle, Washington. With that, I can no longer say that I am lost in this degree that I am working on.
I went home to the States full of lessons learned about global trade and supply chains and filled with some of my fondest memories. I look back at it now and realize how fortunate I was to be part of the program. However, I wish I had taken more time checking the sample shoes presented to us in the Brooks Shoes Factory. I wish I were able to talk with one or two of the employees who were working in the assembly lines. I wish we had more time wandering around the wholesale market where CMI orchards send their fresh cherries and apples. I wish I had more questions for the consul during our visit to the U.S. Embassy and Consulate. I wish I got to play table tennis with the employees at the SP-SSA International Terminal (SSIT) port. I wish the rain only poured right after we spent about an hour in the South China Sea. I wish our boat ride in the Mekong Delta never ended.
Now, do you have the same wishes as I do? Well, I suggest that the next time an opportunity like this opens, do not be like me who was having second thoughts. Take it from my experience, you will never be disappointed. Not only will you gain a lot of knowledge and wisdom, but you will truly have a lot of fun. Who knows, I might fly with the delegation as a guide in the future.
Until then, nó rất vui, Vietnam! It was fun, Vietnam!
Blaine standing in front of the traffic of Ho Chi Minh City
