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Giving BackBy Will rue

As she boarded a flightfrom Pittsburgh to New York,a connecting flight back to her native China, LinglingZhu wasnt sure what the future held. Tis was Plan A,after all; she would go to America, get some experienceand build a resume, then fly back to her homeland witha leg up on her competitors. Still, she was conflicted. Shewas leaving behind a community that welcomed andsupported her, a love that could be the real thing, and aworld-class education she might not get anywhere else.

So when she was seated on the plane next to a librarian

from Carnegie Mellons Qatar campus, it seemed pre-destined. You know, the librarian said, you should reallythink about CMU.

Alright, she thought. Plan B it is.

I take pride in where I grew up.

Lingling was bornin a small farming village on topof a mountain, a six-hour drive up winding dirt roadsfrom the nearest town of Huishui in the Shaanxi prov-ince of China. Although her family was poor, they werewell respected within their community, as her fatherwas an educated government official and her paternalgrandparents were farmers. When she was 5, her fathertook her into Huishui where he worked to further herschooling; as she left, she began to cry, and her fatherturned to her. Youre not going to make it. So soft, youcant do this. People arent going to make a big name of

themselves if they cry as often as you do.

Sitting across from Lingling now, you dont get any im-pression of softness. Soft-spoken, perhaps, but not soft.Te first thing you notice is her jet-black hair, whichframes her face at a square angle. She welcomes you witha warm smile and a friendly greeting, no matter the timeor the place, and more often than not will immediatelyengage you in conversation. Teres a very slight rasp toher voice, the type that commands authority no matter

the volume at which she speaks.

Her mother eventually joined the two of them in townbecoming the chef for the towns police departmentShe would leave that job to start her own business sometime later, which became the spark for Linglings entre-

preneurial spirit. If you want to do something, youdbetter figure out a way to do it, her mother told herIf you dont, nobody else is going to help you to realizeyour dream. At the age of 15, Lingling left her parentsbehind to attend high school in the city of Ankang, fivehours away from home. Living in a dorm with 8 otherstudents far from family took its toll on the teenagerLooking back, it feels unbelievable, she says. Howdid I have that strong a resolution?

Tat resolve eventually led her to the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu, the cap-ital of Chinas Sichuan Province. It was during thosefour years that I really started to thrive as a person, notonly as a study machine. In a hushed tone, she talksabout the times she would skip class to do somethingmore personally fulfilling. With a more balanced world-

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I really created something, I feel.

Tree months into her service,Lingling was contactedby Mike Matesic, the CEO of Idea Foundry, a nonprof-it that acts as a business incubator and commercializa-tion accelerator for the innovations of Pittsburghs stu-dent population. Matesic wanted to expand Pittsburghsreach in China, positioning itself as a national leader intourism, education and business. Matesic asked Linglingif she could write a business proposal on the benefitsand potential opportunities for Chinese visitors, whichthey could then pitch to local and statewide partners.She put the proposal together in her spare time, and herand Matesic laid out a regional marketing plan.

Te plan was positively received, and as a result, Linglingwas hired full-time by Idea Foundry as the leader of their

Greater China Initiatives program. In partnership withVisit Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance,the organization launched its Friendly Pittsburgh andFriendly PA programs, which serve as user-orientedhubs for prospective visitors and students to both the stateand the city. I really created something, I feel, she sayswith a huge smile on her face. Te two websites, Friend-lyPA.com and FriendlyPittsburgh.com, were recentlylaunched.

In her role, Lingling is Pittsburghs unofficial cultural am-

bassador to China. After working for the success of Chinaand Pittsburgh separately, shes found a way to work fortheir continued success as a whole. Even though theres nodirect link between me finding this job and Heinz College,she says with total confidence, I feel because of my educa-tion, my mindset and my work ethic, theyre all leading meto this position Im in now.

Oh, the waiters name is Jake. Lingling takes the

pen with which she wrote the tip for dinner and writesTank You Jake on the receipt, capping the sentimentoff with a smiley face. Its 6pm on a Friday, and she livesover an hour northeast of the city. It would seem obviousthat shed be on her way home. Still, it doesnt come as asurprise when she responds otherwise.

Teres a meet-and-greet at Heinz College for currentand former graduate students, she says. Its a great op-portunity to network. Dont want to be late.