Cultivating community in Shanghai
SHANGHAI — Kate McFarlin got off the plane in Beijing not knowing a soul. It was 2003, the summer of SARS, and the recent Harvard graduate was there to spend a year at the Beijing Film Academy. McFarlin, armed with little more than what she described as “mediocre classroom Chinese” and the email address of a contact gleaned from her boss at a summer job, survived the yearlong fellowship. But she recalls her initial experience as an example of why it’s important for Harvard to have strong alumni networks in China and elsewhere in the world. “I remember how lost and confused I was when I arrived off the plane,” McFarlin said. “Just having a single person’s email so you can say, ‘Where should I go? What should I do?’ was invaluable.” McFarlin arrived with her one-year fellowship and a five-year plan to improve her Chinese, get experience, and make contacts. Ten years...