Planning for life after Nassau: Princeton in Asia

Post-Princeton life is currently at the forefront of the minds of seniors — especially now, during a bleak job market. As I contemplated what I really wanted to do after I graduated from Princeton, the less I wanted to get a stable job or enter graduate school right away. Moreover, I was not even sure of the kind of job or graduate school I was passionate about, be it in engineering, law, social sciences or none of the above.

At first thought, not getting a "real" (i.e. stable) job did not seem practical, but upon further investigation, I realized that other options do exist. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the website www.princeton.edu/~pia. Princeton in Asia turned out to be a fantastic alternative.

Princeton in Asia, a cost effective, small organization run by mostly dedicated program alumni and volunteers, seeks out both summer internships and year-long internships at organizations in Asia that offer salaries for undergraduates or recent graduates who wish to live abroad for a year and explore new cultures in Asia. It is a non-profit organization funded separately from the University. It possesses its own modestly sized endowment and obtains funding from alumni contributions and small grants.

A huge part of PIA's culture comes from its history. It originally began in 1898 when a group of Princeton undergraduates voted to raise $500 to support a YMCA in Tianjin, China. Over the next 30 years, projects such as setting up famine relief programs, organizing the first athletic associations and opening the Peking School of Commerce and Finance culminated in the greatest Princeton presence at that time in Asia, with the Princeton School of Public Affairs at Yenching University. The mission of what was known as the Princeton-Yenching Foundation was the free exchange of ideas between the East and the West.

After more than 50 years of sending Princetonians to work in social service and educational programs, the Princeton-Yenching Foundation was forced to cease work in China due to local political turmoil. Though it no longer sent students abroad because of the unstable situation, this did not preclude the foundation from growing further. Rather than disband, the Princeton-Yenching Foundation awarded scholarships to several students from Hong Kong to attend Princeton.

Students from the United States and China were reaping the benefits of the innovative and self-motivated organization, which fostered meaningful connections between the East and West. In addition to awarding scholarships, the foundation also began to send students to China's neighbors. It was at this time, in 1955, that Princeton-Yenching was renamed Princeton in Asia.

By 1969, PIA had sent 30 interns to Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan and had awarded scholarships for government officials from Singapore to attend Princeton's Wilson School. From 1970 to 1985, PIA expanded further, as it sent interns to teach at universities and high schools in Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Yemen and Greece. With further economic development during this period in Asia, a myriad of choices were offered. Students had the opportunity to experience Japanese styles of management first hand through internships Japanese businesses, and positions in journalism were offered at The Japan Times and Time-Life in Hong Kong.

It has been approximately 100 years since the cells of PIA began to coalesce. This year the program will offer about 60 year-long internships where students can teach En-glish as well as in other fields such as bio-logy, computer science, mass communications, film studies, economics, history or literature. In addition to the teaching internships, students also have the option of working for a non-governmental organization, gaining business experience at a financial institution, working with the World Health Organization or editing English language newspapers.

Currently, a position is being developed in China for students to work as a paralegal at an international law firm in Shanghai. In fall 2002, PIA will be sending interns to Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, Laos, Nepal, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Additionally, PIA now has a field office in Singapore, a key post that scouts out new opportunities in Asia, provides routine support to current interns, takes care of medical emergencies and is now working toward finding permanent employment for PIA alumni.

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Though establishing yearlong internships is the larger focus of Princeton in Asia, eight to ten summer internship positions are also offered each year. The deadline for summer internship applications is Jan. 15, and positions include teaching English in Beijing, performing civil engineering work in Japan, working for a law firm in Japan and working for an Internet company.

A great bonus that most PIA positions offer is that the hours of the job are very generous in giving participants plenty of time to explore and really immerse themselves in the culture of the region where they live. Participants in the past have worked on personal projects such as volunteer work with a family planning bureau, English language instruction at public health organizations, grant writing for technology organizations, studies of local arts, enrollment in university courses, language study, martial arts, writing and volunteer environmental work.

The costs a participant should be prepared to assume are minimal. Housing is usually provided, and depending on the organization, airfare may also be included in the package. Students usually use their salaries to pay for food and extra travel, and certain positions allow the student to return with significant savings. The curriculum and materials for teaching positions are given to the student so there is an easy transition into the job, but positions where the participant wants more freedom to organize his or her own curriculum are also offered. No language experience is usually necessary for either workplace or teaching positions.

Audrey Ellerbee, a former electrical engineering major who is teaching computer science in Singapore, noted, "I'm learning a new language despite the fact that it's not needed in Singapore. Learning new languages is really fun. In fact, I've decided as a result of my being in Asia that it's imperative that my children grow up bilingual." Since PIA is now well established, it offers a safe way to take the risk of branching out from more conventional roads after graduation.

Executive program director Carrie Gordon currently runs PIA. Carrie has extensive experience working in Asia for several non-governmental organizations. She has worked in refugee programs in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

"The easiest part of living abroad was getting used to the living conditions, but the greater challenges were the cultural challenges," Carrie said.

She said the mission of PIA has remained unchanged, emphasizing that providing help to underdeveloped countries is just a small part of the program's larger goal. It is an organization designed to capture typical work and socialization, and it offers both private and non-profit, educational and workplace and rural and urban positions.

"Being in Asia teaches you a lot about dealing with people in general. The fact that my students aren't all the cream of the crop really forces me to break down any former stereotypes I had of Asian people and to learn to see and appreciate them for who they are, whether or not they're smarter than me, play sports or chess or like listening to rap and hip-hop," Ellerbee said.

Applications for yearlong positions are up about 30 percent this year. Specific interest in working in Kazakhstan also went up this year, as more people are informed about this country due to recent events. However, Carrie said she was surprised that the number of students expressing an interest in Malaysia, a country consisting of a large Muslim population, remained low.

Carrie said diversification is the main goal of PIA for the future. She said she hopes to resume sending students abroad to the Middle East — the last person sent to the Middle East was in 1980 — and to more countries in Central Asia like Uzbekistan. A position was actually planned in the West Bank in Gaza for September 2001, but the recent violence has made that impossible.

One PIA alumnus, Robert Deraney '80, is a Lebanese American who studied Arabic at Princeton and taught English in Beirut. He eventually went on to become a Middle East correspondent for ABC News.

Approximately 65 percent of PIA alumni go on to work in international affairs or international business in some way.

Deraney was one of the victims of the World Trade Center attack. Carrie received an e-mail from one of his classmates, Terry Wong '80, who remarked, "Beirut in 1980 was a place where everyone had an opinion, but with a closed mind. Rob was the only person who was open to both sides regarding the conflict there."

PIA recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. People from all parts of the world came together, and the event carried a special significance in light of the events on Sept. 11.