This BU Student Spent His Summer Working in a Chinese Garment Factory and Biking Across Mongolia. Here’s What He Learned

This BU Student Spent His Summer Working in a Chinese Garment Factory and Biking Across Mongolia. Here's What He Learned

Like many students, Grant Corbett loves to travel. He has always been curious about Asia, and as tensions between the United States and China escalate-most recently over tariffs-Corbett (Questrom'26) decided he wanted to see the country sooner rather than later.

But unlike a lot of students, rather than trying to plan a vacation or find a farm to work on, Corbett reached out to a family friend, whose Australian business, Active Apparel Group, has a garment factory in Ningbo, China, and asked for a job.

"I was like, 'Hey, is there any chance I could potentially come and work at the factory?'" says Corbett, who is majoring in business administration. "'I'll do whatever you need me to do. I'll sit in that cubicle, I'll work, I'll live at the factory in the employee housing… I'll basically do whatever it takes to get there.'"

Corbett is one of 15, 2025 Vos Global Interns, a new program at Boston University's Questrom School of Business that's designed to provide Questrom undergraduate students with the opportunity to experience global environments, learn from diverse perspectives, and develop cultural competence. The fund was created by Sebastian Vos and Donna Vos (Questrom'88,'94).

The award covered his housing, travel, and food expenses in China, and Corbett says he could not have had the same experience without it.

Corbett's curiosity about Asia was partly travel-based-he had never been, and it felt so foreign to what he already knew. But he also had a family connection. Corbett's grandmother was born in Wuhan, and the journey his family took before life in America was on his mind.

So for five weeks this summer, Corbett worked in what's considered a pretty small garment factory-about 2,500 workers on the lines, with the capacity for another 2,000-with what he describes as very good working conditions.

An eager learner ready for new experiences, he went in ready to learn.

He worked on research, strategy, and mitigating the effects of the Trump administration's new tariffs by liaising with American brands. He says he spent time researching different countries where manufacturing could be done, though he found China is top of the line in terms of quality and technology.

This research intensified Corbett's interest in international business and manufacturing. It also taught him about working across different cultures.

"It really just opened the door to the possibilities," he says. "Before I went, the idea of doing international business kind of seemed closed off to me; you needed to have the right connections. But once I got there, I realized that in the world of business, everyone is just there to work together and cooperate and try and build things the best as possible together."

This message was further confirmed by his next adventure. After five weeks in the garment factory, he rented a bike and rode around Mongolia for two weeks, alone.

Mongolia was especially interesting to him, as it is a former communist state, and he is a self-described capitalist. To him, it also seemed "ripe for adventure."

Corbett says being on a bike made it easier for him to speak and connect with locals. Though it was tough going-the roads weren't great and he ended up with nerve damage in his hand from the rough terrain-he says people would share milk and cheese and bread with him, and invite him into their yurts.

"The experience of physically working your way across a country allows you to really understand it," he says. "You really build a connection with the land and the people, and you get to see so many other things that you would have missed otherwise."

Corbett says his experiences in both China and Mongolia were eye-opening. In China, he was impressed by the clean, well-functioning transportation systems.

In Mongolia, he saw a vast, untouched countryside and beautiful land. However, Western development has already hit Mongolia's capital city, and Corbett says that trend will continue.

"As these companies come in and they set up these mining and resource extraction projects…it's not going to stay like that," Corbett says. "That really opened my eyes to the fact that if there is demand for something…it's going to benefit a lot of people, but it's also going to be the detriment of others."

Corbett says he has always approached his classes with an open mind, and been one to question things with a healthy skepticism. However, he now has a better understanding of the responsibilities that a businessperson faces. Seeing the lineworkers in the factory where he worked, he realizes the need to think about the lives of workers who are dependent on the decisions businesses make.

"Communism, capitalism, socialism-when you say something's good enough, it never is. It's always just something that we need to work at and possibly try to build and improve," he says. "And the way you can do that is to open yourself up to more experiences and try to apply those experiences to building something new and something better."

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