Evelyne's
UW Stories
Originally from Taiwan, I hold a bachelor's degree in Turkish and International Relations. Because of my previous work experience in advertising and marketing, I decided to switch my career to more focus on marketing and communication.
To me, ‘Be boundless’ is not just a tagline but it’s also my life goal. Studying at the UW as both a graduate student and an international student, I stepped out of my comfort zone and left my home country to Seattle to pursue my Master's degree here in Seattle.
Experience at my graduate program — Communication Leadership
After starting my program — Communication Leadership, I gradually found my career interest in UX (user experience) and content strategy. I started developing my leadership skills through class projects, partnership programs with clients, and my part-time job in the program as an event coordinator.
Product Content Strategy and UX psychology classes inspired me to pursue a content marketing and strategy career. I completed several case studies, worked with real clients, and continue developing my knowledge in this field.
Here are some of my class assignments:
On-campus experience
At school, I constantly participate in various activities. I have been actively involved in on-campus events such as W Day, Huskies@work, and other events from different clubs on campus.
At the same time, I have been a facilitator at FIUTS to help out other international students quickly get used to the US study and living environment and to improve my leadership skills.
To further stay connected with the school and my program, I have been assisting in outreaching, planning events, and promoting our program.
These experiences made me feel more engaged with the UW folks and more proud to be one of the Huskies!
Experience at COVID-19 Consultancy
Last April after the pandemic started, I joined the Communication Leadership program’s Consultancy as the head of the event curation.
Our main goals are to first, assist impacted small businesses and non-profit organizations by providing pro-bono consulting services and handy resources guides about how to work business as usual during this difficult time. Second, I am in charge of the communication event series inviting 10+ speakers to share communication knowledge. From this experience, I not only learn how to deal with the fast-paced communication crisis but also the logical way to plan the overall series.
So far, we have consulted with 100+ clients, have 60+ volunteers helping out with the projects, and have organized 20+ virtual events and workshops.
After I joined the team, I started volunteering for small businesses, nonprofits, and educational organizations in Seattle with their virtual event planning and marketing needs. Aside from the voluntary work, one of my teammates and I held a workshop sharing tips on how to hold a successful virtual event which drove 100+ registrations and 300+ views on YouTube.
I also resonated even stronger with “What we care about can change the world.” Even though the changes we made are not broad enough to help the entire world, I’m still glad I am a part of the team to assist entities in the Greater Seattle area to operate during the pandemic.
This experience is absolutely transformational not only in my education but also in my life. It has definitely broadened my horizon and helped me shape my career path. In the meantime, I hope I can continue holding this passion to make more positive changes in different corners of the world.
Extracurricular activities
Outside of school, I’m also actively volunteering for different organizations in the Washington area. I volunteered for Seattle Aquarium as a Mandarin translator for their Open House event for immigrants. For two years in a row, I am a volunteer for Seattle Interactive Conference.
Coming from a foreign language major and international relations minor in my undergrad, I had 0 concepts about coding. To further understand the tech industry and better communicate with my coworkers in engineering, I signed up for the Python workshop to learn how to code.
As a relatively introverted and shy person in the work setting, I stepped out of my comfort zone trying to network with people. I joined our program's First Friday networking event every month, Friendsgiving held by our classmates, and other network activities.
These activities allowed me to understand the Seattleite and the US culture. I also feel more connected to the people I met in Seattle.
In my spare time...
In my spare time, I love reading, hiking, traveling, eating good food, hanging out with friends, and trying new things.
Before moving to Seattle, I wasn't a fan of hiking. After being introduced by my Seattleite friends, I fell in love with hiking in the PNW. When the weather (or the COVID situation!) allows, I usually go hiking every week with my friends at the UW. I also love exploring good food and spots in the PNW. I became a Yelp elite for two years in a row.
Because of the UW and FIUTS, I made a lot of genuine friends from all around the world here. I learned different languages and cultures through my friends.
Besides active hobbies, I also enjoy reading and visiting art museums. With our Husky card and being a student at the UW, I have access to tens of thousands of books, resources, and discounts to get into museums.
These hobbies not only help me destress but also help broaden my horizon on how I see things in the world.
More day-to-day on my YouTube :-)
As a visual storyteller, I record my life on YouTube too. Feel free to take a look:
Career development after UW
UW has definitely helped me so much during the job search. UW Career and Internship Center offers resources and services to help us during the job search and interview process. I had my first job in the US as a worker at the Hub (student cafeteria) and then switched to UW School of Nursing as a video production assistant.
With the knowledge I learned from my graduate program and the experiences I earned on the UW campus, I finally landed a job as a content strategist at a B2B tech company in Bellevue.
As I'm still exploring new opportunities, I found out the network and resources that the UW and Comm Lead provide are strongly helpful.
How UW shaped my perspectives and future?
Born and raised in Asia, I was always more introverted and less brave to speak up. After starting my journey here at the UW, I became more open to new ideas, braver to share my perspectives, and dare to be boundless. I noticed that I am more willing to exchange ideas with peers, more interested in trying new things, and more forward-thinking.
I hope to continue volunteering for small businesses and nonprofits and participating in the UW activities as an alumna. Career-wise, I am aiming to become a UX content designer, helping more businesses create concise yet meaningful content for their users.
With these impactful experiences at the UW, in the future, I hope to become one of the thought leaders in immigrant communities.