Data scientist Bennet Voorhees studied Economics as a Flagship student at the UO. “I only started learning Chinese at the UO, and I was able to become fluent and finish my graduate studies in Chinese,” Voorhees said. “And now, 10 years after graduation, my company is sending me to China to do workforce analytics on our companies’ labor force.” 

Lauren Dickey graduated from the University of Oregon in 2010 summa cum laude with majors in Asian studies and Chinese. She attended graduate school at the University of London before working at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. In 2015, she started a PhD in War Studies at King’s College London and the National University of Singapore. Her research focuses on Chinese strategy and the cross-Strait relationship. She now works at the Center for Naval Analyses in Arlington, VA. Lauren’s Chinese language skills and knowledge of the Chinese political environment have been great assets throughout her career, and she has also found that the work ethic she developed during her time in Flagship prepared her for fast-paced, demanding work environments.

Brandon Yeh graduated cum laude from the University of Oregon in June 2014 with degrees in Chinese and Political Science. He spent his capstone year studying at Nanjing University and interning for an environmental NGO in Southwestern China. After his studies in Oregon, he returned to Nanjing in 2014-2015 to pursue a Graduate Certificate in Chinese Studies at the Hopkins Nanjing Center. In 2016, he received his M.A. from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) with a degree in International Relations and International Economics. He is currently a climate finance consultant at the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and for a DC-based boutique consulting firm – Climate Finance Advisors. According to Brandon, the UO Chinese Flagship Program benefitted him in many ways: “Not only did it help solidify my Chinese language skills in the classroom, but it also broadened my field of language and cultural understanding through various subject matters and real-life experiences. For example, I could not have successfully completed my internship experience at an environmental education NGO in rural Yunnan without the language and cultural skills that Flagship equipped me with beforehand. This Flagship internship experience has also further solidified my current academic interest and future career goals.”

Erik Thorbeck majored in Planning, Public Policy, and Management (PPPM) and Chinese, and now works as a Project Analyst at Nicobar Group LLC in Shanghai. Erik joined Flagship with the goal of becoming a Foreign Service Officer for the US Department of State. “I’m still considering this for later,” he says, “but my internship with the British Chamber of Commerce during my Capstone year exposed me to the consulting industry in China, and how western firms based in China could offer expertise to firms entering China by combining knowledge of policy, industry, languages, cultures, and economics.” In his current role Erik is deepening his understanding of the Chinese nuclear industry in order to assist foreign firms in China’s transition to more sustainable energy. “It turns out that there’s a lot of overlap between my academic background in urban planning, and the energy sector. The technical aspects of what I do are extremely interesting, and I continue to learn new things every day.” Erik says the most rewarding part about living in Shanghai is being “exposed to people from incredibly diverse backgrounds, all coming here to further their understanding of China and the world.”

Gwendolyn Snider graduated from the University of Oregon in spring 2017 with a degree in Planning, Public Policy, and Management. After completing her Capstone year and graduating from the UO, she stayed in Nanjing to pursue a graduate certificate in Chinese studies at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center as a Boren Scholar, and then completed an M.A. at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. She credits the Flagship Program with preparing her for the language she needed to succeed in graduate studies in China. Gwendolyn now lives in Washington, DC, and works at the Department of Justice. The Oregon Chinese Flagship Program drastically changed the shape of Gwendolyn’s studies and career path. When she entered the UO as a freshman, she enrolled in Chinese 101 without having any previous experience in Mandarin. “It is only thanks to the Flagship’s resources and faculty that I was able to progress to the Capstone year,” Gwendolyn says. “The Capstone year itself was also very formative for me.” Through her internship, Gwendolyn discovered a love of international relations and diplomacy in addition to city planning. Gwendolyn acknowledges the rigorous academic nature of the Flagship Program and also credits the program with its ability to create lasting, meaningful relationships. “I had the pleasure of getting to know other Flagship students from across the United States with similar goals and interests,” she recalls of her experience in the program. “And I had the opportunity to form relationships with Chinese people both in my field and beyond it.”

Ava Jamerson graduated cum laude from the University of Oregon in December 2018 with a B.A. in Chinese and an B.S. in Business Administration. She attended Capstone Year in her junior year as a Boren recipient, studying Chinese and Finance at the University of Nanjing and interning for an international marketing agency in Shanghai. After graduating, Ava completed an internship with a DC-based AI startup, where she worked as a China data analyst. Now she lives in Washington, DC, and is currently at the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. In her spare time, she works at The China Guys, a passion project co-founded by two of her capstone classmates. According to Ava, the Chinese Flagship program played a huge role in her career development. “Having the opportunity to go on Capstone opened so many doors for me. Very few can say that they have worked and studied in China by the end of their undergraduate experience, so it really makes you stand out from the crowd.” Ava also made lifelong friends at UO’s program and in Capstone. Her last bit of advice was, “If you are on the fence about Chinese, take the leap because you’ll develop many of the other skills that come with language learning, meet some really smart people, and always have an instant connection with a fellow China Watcher.” Read more about Ava here.

Ellie Yeo started at the University of Oregon in 2016 with a plan to join the Chinese Flagship program. Through Flagship, she was able to spend almost every summer of undergrad abroad in both Taiwan and China. In 2019, she attended the Flagship Capstone year in Nanjing, China where she met the most amazing classmates and teachers, whom she still talks to them almost daily. Unfortunately, she was unable to finish her Capstone year due to the outbreak of COVID-19. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Oregon in June 2020 with a Degree in Chinese and Second Language Acquisition. Currently, she is at the University of Oxford pursuing a Master’s in Contemporary Chinese Studies, researching Chinese American ethnicity and identity. Though she was unable to finish her Capstone year, she said, “My time with Flagship at UO, various study abroad, and that six months in Nanjing were truly life changing; it gave me the desire to learn more about China and pursue my masters.”

Samara Schuman graduated magna cum laude as a Chinese major with double minors in political science and business administration. She is a Boren Scholar, and studied abroad a total of six times in China, Taiwan, and Jordan. She attended PIB, ICLP Taiwan, CIEE Shanghai, SIT’s Geopolitics in  Jordan, and Flagship’s virtual Capstone year. Samara worked at Expo 2020 Dubai as a USA Pavilion Youth Ambassador. Her career goal is to work as a Public Diplomacy Foreign Service Officer. 

Ella is a 2022 graduate with a BA in Cultural Anthropology and Chinese, and took classes through Yangming University in Taiwan as a part of the Chinese Flagship Capstone program. In 2019, she spent the summer in Shanghai as a part of the CIEE program offered through Flagship. She joined Flagship to continue to improve her Mandarin skills after a year abroad in Taiwan in high school. In the future, she  hopes to return to Taiwan and work as a cultural anthropologist. According to Ella, the UO Chinese Flagship Program has afforded many opportunities to connect with great professors and classmates at UO, Shanghai, and Taiwan. Though through the pandemic her journey was filled with challenges, she believes that everything she has learned will be of great help in the future.

Flagship is an amazing program that would help me improve my Mandarin skills from no knowledge at all to full proficiency. I needed a program that would give me the support to reach my goal of fluency, and Flagship is the perfect program for that.

I joined Flagship to surround myself with like minded people all wanting to learn the language.

I wanted to use Chinese throughout my life and make connections. I also wanted to have a sense of community with other Chinese learners. 

To learn Mandarin! And for the awesome study abroad opportunities and support from professors and instructors in the program. 

I wanted to use Chinese throughout my life and make connections. I also wanted to have a sense of community with other Chinese learners. 

Banzhang seemed like a great opportunity to get involved within Flagship and meet others in the program.