Hometown: Charlotte, NCGraduating Class: 2008
Current Profession: Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese and Japanese
What languages did you study at UNC and what were your most memorable moments from those global language courses?
I started off taking Hindi/Urdu, Mandarin, and Latin, later also took Japanese. My main language was Mandarin, but I studied Japanese through the end of the third year course level as well. I loved the Chinese Conversation Club meetings (we would sometimes have them at Chinese restaurants) and the seminar-style Chinese poetry class I took with a visiting professor from Tsinghua University.
Did you study abroad or do an internship abroad and, if so, what about these experiences impacted your bachelor’s degree the most?
I studied abroad in the summer after my first year on the Singapore summer program for first-year students. The next year I did my spring semester and summer in Beijing as part of the Weir program. The following summer I did funded research in Japan. The first summer opened my eyes to travel abroad (it was my first such experience) and got me interested in Asia. Studying abroad in Beijing, in the CET language program, was decisive for me in that showed me I wanted to major in Chinese and also live there after I graduated – I moved back to Beijing and lived there for several years after college. The project I did in Japan (learning about the experiences of Chinese women living there) helped me get experience with independent research projects and improve both my Chinese and Japanese language skills. I later went on to use these in my PhD program in East Asian Linguistics at UCLA, and now as a visiting assistant professor of Chinese at Vassar College.
How did the study of language shape your overall academic training at Carolina?
Exposure to other languages and cultures led me to choose classes on subjects I didn’t know much about, like the modern Mulslim world and international migration. I went from speaking only English and not having much exposure to the world outside of the state to having travelled to six countries and speaking two additional languages by the time I graduated. I ended up majoring in Asian Studies (with a focus in Chinese) and learning more about Chinese literature, culture, and history as well. The variety of language courses offered at UNC meant I had the option to explore as broadly as I wished. This directly supported my later work in China as an editor, graduate studies at Peking University in contemporary Chinese literature, work as a China-focused journalist based in DC, PhD at UCLA, and work as a Chinese professor now.
How has language study at Carolina shaped your outlook and professional aspirations following graduation?
I wasn’t at all sure what I wanted to do when I started college, other than a vague idea that I might become a professor of classics (I took Latin in high school). It took about two weeks of Chinese to be fascinated by the language, one which was not offered in any of my schools growing up. Studying abroad while at UNC convinced me to move to China when I graduated, and I did. Living in China, both during and after my time at UNC, changed the way I saw myself and the world. It also made me convinced of the value of language education, to the extent that it is now my career.
Is there anything else you’d like to add that you believe new students should know about your global language experience at Carolina?
There are so many opportunities to learn a new language and study abroad somewhere you’ve never been before! Seek out funding! Ask your professors and advisors! Ask yourself – what is the best that could happen?