From Jan. 5 to May 17, she and seven other students will be working through the Kelley School of Business on courses relating to international business, marketing and accounting, among other things not specifically related to business school classes, she said.
Currently, people such as Sarah Boeving in the Kelley School of Business Study Abroad Office are watching the news closely and staying in near-constant contact with Hong Kong as protests pop up in the area, said junior Cameron Halsted, also traveling to Hong Kong for the spring semester.
“I’ve made sure to do as much research as I can,” Halsted said.
Despite the protests, which are in response to the Chinese government’s involvement in what Hong Kong citizens believe should be purely democratic elections, both Queisser and Halsted said they don’t believe the protests will affect their plans.
“I actually think right now it’s starting to die down a little bit,” Queisser said.
She said she has a friend in Hong Kong right now who is participating in the protests meant to address questions about democracy in Hong Kong.
Protests, which started in September, are being called Umbrella Protests because protesters are holding umbrellas open to protect against gas attacks, she said.
“She sounds like she’s not in an unsafe environment,” she said, explaining that her friend protests after classes and is very involved in the process.
The Hong Kong protesters want a completely democratic election in which they select both the candidates and the winner, but the mainland Chinese government has intervened, saying it will select the candidates voters can choose from in the election, Queisser said.
“China’s kind of controlling the voting process,” Halsted said.
He said a lot of college students are protesting, but they are civil and conscientious in their actions from what he has read.
Voters feel the government has overstepped its boundaries, threatening their chances at a fully democratic government, she said.
“It’s kind of scary when the Chinese government gets involved,” Queisser said.
Queisser said Boeving said she heard there are emergency plans in place should something ?happen, but nobody is currently worried about the ?situation.
Queisser said her mother is convinced she will not be able to go to Hong Kong, but she hopes that isn’t the case. She said she has a good feeling about the trip.
There’s always a possibility something could affect the trip, Halsted said, but after following the news and hearing from advisers, he is not worried about the trip.
“I feel fine going there,” Halsted said.
