Visiting ExxonMobil near Shanghai was another great experience to see what it’s like to be an engineer working for a large firm in China. The facility we toured was very new and we were able to hear a presentation on Exxon’s operations and safety protocol. Tours of labs showed us all kinds of testing machinery to test petroleum products for numerous properties. Thousands of vials of oil were undergoing tests regarding characteristics such as temperature tolerance, water reactivity, and sample viscosity. The spotless lab housed hundreds of machines and only a few people monitoring them. Following the tour, we were able to participate in a Q&A with Jay Rogers, a Penn State graduate working for ExxonMobil in Shanghai. This was an amazingly beneficial opportunity as he shared he experience with moving to China with a family. With a wife, 2 young children, and a newborn baby, his work experience was much different from anyone I’ve ever met. His discussed family life in China, schooling for children in Shanghai, and dealing with pollution. I wouldn’t have ever considered starting my own family and career in China, but he talked about many positive aspects of it. Hearing all of this sparked a serious interest in working in China for part of my future career.