Leading up to the arrival of the inaugural class of Schwarzman Scholars, we invited a few students to reflect on why they decided to apply and offer their advice to future applicants.
Jintian (Jay) Li, China: Moving a career in sports back to China
Having grown up in China, I knew Tsinghua was the country’s most prestigious university ever since I was a kid. The idea of spending a year there to learn from some of the world’s most influential people, with a diverse group of interesting young minds, on a full scholarship—simply hearing about it gave me goosebumps back in 2013. I had to wait for 2 years until the application for the inaugural class opened.
I was planning to elevate my interest in the global sports industry to the next level and relocate back to China after years of studying and working in New York. My goal was to bring my industry experience to China where an massive market for sports is on the rise. I could maybe help Chinese companies identify good investment opportunities in sports overseas or help international companies make inroads into the East.
I saw no better way than for the Schwarzman Scholars program to help me make that transition, through the powerful network of intellectuals, political leaders, and business moguls who helped put the program together and have invested their time and resources to ensure its success. I can’t wait for the program to start so I can take advantage of such an unprecedented project and dive right in to learn and have fun.
You can also read reflections from Julian Busch (Germany), Emma Campbell-Mohn (USA), Tomas Fuentes Benitez (Argentina), Kumiko Mita (Japan), Blaise Buma (Cameroon) and Leyla Sudbury (United Kingdom).