Alumni Profiles
Did you graduate from ALC? Let us know what you’re doing and you may be highlighted on our website! Please send in your information to scuellar@humnet.ucla.edu with the subject, “ALC Website: Alumni Profile”.
Charles H. Stratford
Year graduated/major or minor: BA, Chinese, 2007
Current Position: Professor of Humanities, Department of Humanities and Philosophy, Brigham Young University-Idaho.
How ALC influenced your career path: As both a scholar and a teacher, my BA in Chinese has greatly shaped the direction of my work. Not only did my bachelor’s degree develop my fluency and literacy in Chinese, it also equipped me with a broader cultural sensibility that has aided my designing undergraduate humanities seminars on Asian art, music, literature, and philosophy. Moreover, during the summer before my senior year, I had the chance to live at Fo Guang Shan monastery in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, as a participant in the Humanistic Buddhism Monastic Life Program (www.woodenfish.org). My coursework at UCLA gave me the skills to make this formative cultural experience especially fulfilling for me both personally and academically.
Advice for current students: I advise you to really get to know your professors and take multiple classes from them so that you can seek out mentorship opportunities. Take advantage of the cultural and artistic opportunities that greater Los Angeles has to offer you. Make every effort to find a way to travel to Asia to pursue advanced language studies and engage in cultural immersion.
Elizabeth Kimura
Year graduated/major or minor: BA, Chinese, 2008
Current Position: Senior Compliance Consultant at Discover Card
How ALC influenced your career path: Being fluent in Chinese allowed me my start in the banking world by being hired into the Law and Compliance Department at an Asian bank due to my fluency in working with Chinese banking regulators and the FDIC.
Advice for current students: Work hard in whatever interests you while at UCLA and be confident there are ways it can translate into any job you want to achieve.
Alex Ross
Year graduated/major or minor: BA, Chinese, 2012
Additional Education: Self-taught programmer
Current Position: CTO & Co-Founder, Enplug Inc.
How ALC influenced your career path: Studying Chinese helped me develop me the discipline and abstract thinking I needed to become a technologist and co-found a technology company.
Advice for current students: Hold yourself to the highest standard possible, because if you don’t nobody else will.
Esther I. Shin
Year graduated/major or minor: BA, History and minor in Japanese, 2013
Current Position: Development Assistant at the Japanese American National Museum
How ALC influenced your career path: I was able to combine my knowledge of Japanese and Japanese American language and culture, with my enthusiasm for history and museums which led to my internship, and now regular position at the Japanese American National Museum.
Advice for current students: Get work experience that is related to your desired field of work – whether it’s paid work, internships, or volunteering. It’s important to excel in your studies, but work experience is crucial when it comes to your career. Work experience helps you discern what you would or would not like to do in the future, it helps you define your goals, it shows you what your strengths and weaknesses are, and it provides networks, not just with working professionals, but it can open the door to great opportunities.
Ming Loong Teo
Year graduated/major or minor: BA, Korean, 2012
Additional Education: MSW, University of Southern California, 2014
Current Position: Psychiatric Social Worker with Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
How ALC influenced your career path: My career path was decided before I came to UCLA, however, ALC provided the opportunity to further enrich my language skills and my level of cultural competence. This, in turn, has dramatically helped me in my work as a mental health provider working in the Korean community.
Advice for current students: Find a path that fulfills the self before you find a path that fills your bank account. If you can be fortunate enough to have both, more power to you. Don’t be afraid to seek the rewards that may not have numerous dollar signs attached to them, and don’t be afraid to continue to take risks and challenge yourself in new ways. Growth is a never-ending process, and if you feel the need at 25, 30, 35, 40, etc. to change it up – – follow your heart and follow your dreams. We live in a world where many individuals have the misconception that money will buy you happiness, but the sad truth is that fiscal wealth is merely that. Empowerment begins with education, but the rest is exclusively for you to decide.