Major: Chinese
Graduation Year: 2022
Hometown: Oakland, CA
Pacific Activities: Owen is a resident assistant
Q - What made you choose Chinese as a major?
A - First, I was only taking classes out of curiosity really, but one of the professors convinced me to take a minor, and as I completed classes for that every semester, I (realized) if I wanted to do the most that I could do with the program, then a major was pretty doable.
Q - Was it difficult learning Chinese in college?
A - There are two parts of learning the language: the speaking and the writing part. There's a lot of memorization because there's no alphabet or anything like that. The first time I took it was my freshman year, so without any prior experience it's pretty much been all building from the ground up.
Q - How do you balance double majoring in Chinese and engineering?
A - Most of my work goes into engineering, but I had to build up my credentials over time. Right now, I'm doing an independent study for Chinese, and that's just two units. However, a couple of semesters ago I was taking a Chinese language class and that was about half the work I was doing.
Q - How do you think learning Chinese is going to help you with your career goals and in the workforce?
A - I think that having more than one language under your belt is always good. It's going to help in networking and communicating with people from different backgrounds.
Q - Describe an experiential learning opportunity you received.
A - Last summer I had the opportunity to study abroad in South Korea and study statics towards my engineering major. That experience taught me exactly what I'm capable of by going out there and seeing Korea and a different environment than I'm used to. It showed me that I was ready to take on the world
Q - Tell us about a professor who made a difference in your Pacific experience.
A - Dr. Jie Lu in the Asian studies department made a difference because she kept me strong on a path at Pacific. I've jumped from place to place and done a bunch of different things, but ... I stayed with Chinese, and I think it was because of that professor. She convinced me that I had a talent for learning the language and that I could do these things and get out there.
Q - What inspires you?
A - People around me doing things that I wouldn't have thought anyone can do.
Q - What would you tell a prospective student who wants to study your major?
A - I would tell them that hard work always pays off later and never be afraid of working hard.
Q - What would you tell a prospective student who is considering University of the Pacific?
A - I would tell them that one of the great things about this school is how easy it is to connect with professors. (You are) able to go to office hours and have a connection with them that is at least three to four times more than you would at a bigger school where they might be more competition. It's a tight-knit community, small circle of people and a private campus that makes all of those things.
