Every semester, CU鈥檚 Center for Asian Studies holds a career panel featuring speakers with a variety of Asian focuses in their careers. This year we heard from three particularly successful individuals, Jeffery King, Pam Reichert, and Julie Segraves. They discussed how they got where they are today and offered advice and resources to the audience.
The first speaker, Jeffery King currently works in Colorado鈥檚 International Trade Office managing the Asia-Pacific Region. He spent five years in China and emphasized how valuable spending time immersed in the language and culture was in enhancing his resume and skills. During his five years he gained a master鈥檚 degree at Zhejiang University. He obtained a large scholarship to study there, at one of China鈥檚 best universities, and told us that as an international student, scholarships are readily available. He encouraged studying abroad for more than just a semester because of what a positive impact it had on him.
Next we heard from Pam Reichert, Vice President of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, who said she fell into an Asia-focused career by accident. She was trained in European affairs, but when an opening for a Southeast Asia analyst arose, she went for it. In her career she has traveled extensively and gained knowledge of numerous cultures. She wanted us to be openminded and confident about moving focus from one country or region to another.
Julie Segraves is the Executive Director of the Asian Art Coordinating Council. It wasn鈥檛 until after her undergraduate time that she discovered her interest in Asia. She took Chinese courses in graduate school and it instantly clicked. Julie鈥檚 main message to us in school is to do what we are passionate about. She was discouraged by her advisors about the content of her master鈥檚 degree thesis. She went ahead and wrote about Chinese art from the fall of the Qing Dynasty to 1960 and doesn鈥檛 regret it one bit. In fact, she said she references her thesis very often. Reiterating King鈥檚 point, Julie encouraged us to spend time out of the US for cultural and language immersion.
After all of the panelists spoke, the audience was able to ask questions. In this time, Jeffery King let us know that his office has numerous internships that may apply to those of us interested in international affairs. The panel was a helpful way for students as well as graduates to assess their career options in a variety of Asian fields.
麻豆免费版下载undergraduates interested in doing an internship next semester in Asian Studies should visit our webpage, Undergraduate Student Funding. There, we have information about internships offered through CAS, as well as non-CAS scholarship and internship opportunities. Next semester, we are offering two internships, one through聽Rowman & Littlefield Publishing, where the student will be an acquisitions intern, and another through our "It's Elementary" Service Project, in which students visit local elementary classrooms to teach about China, Japan, or India. Apply today!