Pepperdine Disappoints Me Yet Again
This is going to be a more specific post than usual, but I recently got some news that upset me pretty deeply - so of course, I’m here posting my venting to the world.
For those of you who don’t know, I graduated from Pepperdine University in 2016. Apart from being the set of Zoey 101 (yes Pacific Coast Academy DOES exist), it is also home to a pretty amazing study abroad program. They encourage all of their sophomores to go abroad and for a relatively low additional cost, you can go to one of a few different spots. The international locations are Heidelberg, London, Lausanne, Florence, Buenos Aires, and Shanghai.
I was part of the Shanghai program during my time there, and I found out last week that Pepperdine has chosen to close the Shanghai program.
On the one hand, I realize that this decision probably came down to economics more than anything else. Despite China now being objectively safer than the states when it comes to COVID, I can understand that students and their parents might be hesitant about returning, and if students don’t go, then the program doesn’t make money for Pepperdine, and as always, if it doesn’t make money for America, then kill it.
On the other hand, I also believe that Pepperdine did not do enough in marketing the Shanghai program. Americans already have a strong affiliation to Western Europe. Those programs will be filled no matter what, Buenos Aires gets its students from the large population that wants to improve their Spanish, but then the Shanghai program is left in the dust because public perception of China in the United States leaves much to be desired.
Many American’s only knowledge about China comes from the news, in which, China is constantly villainized. Their economic policies, their government, and the way they treat the environment are consistently torn apart in the American news circuit. And while China has done some despicable things, so has the United States, and so have most developed countries. China is an enormous country with billions of people, some of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, and whether the U.S. likes it or not – it is also a global superpower.
To add further insult to injury, the rise of hate crimes against Asians has been increasingly widespread since the COVID pandemic started and programs like this one allowed for exposure, conversation, and connection that led to increased empathy and understanding in our two societies. The lack of this program also deprives Pepperdine’s large Asian and Asian American student population of the opportunity to explore their heritage in a different light.
It’s cliché but I often describe myself as pre-Shanghai Melina and post-Shanghai Melina, because my experience there changed me for the better in so many ways. Many of these changes were a result of the people I met, but many were simply a result of being in a place like China for an extended period of time. I was finally in a place where I was entirely out of my depth. I looked different, my grasp on the language was shaky at best, and culturally, I was probably hanging on by a thread. I learned a ton about myself, but I also unlearned a ton about that environment.
I had a chance to live like a local. I would go to the local gym in my area every day, every night I would buy fruit from the same woman across the street. I had favorite cafes and lunch spots, I could give taxi drivers directions to where I needed to go. It allowed me to experience life there, and as is with life anywhere, it was nuanced and remarkable and it can’t be distilled into a couple of broad generalizations about an entire country.
I’m disappointed that Pepperdine doesn’t do more to promote the beauty and advantages that can be found in China and having access to Asia at large. But I’m also disappointed in the students that have passed on this opportunity repeatedly to the point where Pepperdine felt that there was nothing more to be gained here. It is an unparalleled chance to live, study, and work, in a place that feels truly different, and to develop an invaluable perspective on that region and the world as a whole. This is truly a loss for the university and for all of its future students.