On Leave in China

A Dickinson ROTC cadet practices his 'soft skills' during study abroad

February 3, 2009

Chris Richards '10, Michael Yosua '10, Anna Lovett '10 and Luan Nguyen '10 take a break from their studies to see the famous yurts of Inner Mongolia.

Michael Yosua '10 may have missed his position on the Color Guard this past fall, but he had a good reason. Yosua, a cadet in Dickinson's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and first sergeant of the Blue Mountain Battalion cadet corps, spent last semester honing his Chinese-language skills at Beijing University.

"I had taken Mandarin for two years and had a basic understanding of the language," he says, "and by the time I finished my studies there I had advanced to an intermediate or pre-advanced level. I'm still far from fluent but very comfortable with the language."

He also had a chance to observe Chinese soldiers performing their daily drills in Tiananmen Square. "They were very professional and drilled well," he says, noting that they clearly were a specialized unit "whose job it was to look good to the public."

From joining other Dickinson students on trips to Inner Mongolia and Shanghai to touring Beijing with his host family, Yosua found his experience exhilarating and looks forward to continuing his study of Chinese language and culture. Currently a political-science major, he has added East Asian studies as a second major and plans to focus on international law when he goes on to law school.

In the meantime, he has an open invitation from his host family to return to China and visit. "I loved my host family," he says. "They were kind and warm toward me, so they definitely helped with living abroad. I will miss them."