Chinese II Honors class had the opportunity to visit and hear from alum Jay Weisbrod ‘09 about living and working in China. Jay shared his journey and how language and cultural skills helped shape his career path. He encouraged the students to travel to China to form their own opinions about the country and to really immerse themselves in the language.

After Virginia Tech, Jay landed a teaching job in southwestern China. He then moved on to work for the world’s largest textile manufacturer, Esquel Group, which produces about 100 million shirts annually for leading brands including Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Nike. He worked with all Chinese colleagues and developed proficient Chinese languages skills. Recently, he got a job with Smithfield Foods and will start working half of the time in China and half of the time in the States.