This week, we interviewed Evelyn Yu, a dual-degree student at UMSI and Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Read about her experience as an international student at the university here:
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what inspired you to come to Ann Arbor for a graduate program?
I was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. After receiving a degree in business, I joined EY Advisory Service as a consultant and switched to internal consulting positions in different companies later on in my career. Throughout my career, I found my interest in tech and design thinking, so I decided to take on my MBA.
I started my MBA program in Fall 2016, and focus my career search on tech companies and design thinking consulting firms. Along my recruiting process, I realized how important UI/UX design and Data Analytics are if you want to succeed in the future. Thus, I decided to apply for MSI program and luckily got admitted.
How do you cope with the differences in culture, language, and environment in general?
I would say language was the most challenging part when I just came to the state. To make things worse, class participation often accounted for 30% of the grade at business school, which made me really anxious. To cope with the language barrier, I forced myself to at least speak up once in every class. After a while, I felt more comfortable to speak in English without overthinking before I raised my hand.
I think it's important to keep an open mind when you see something different. In terms of culture, I tried to observe what my native friends do in different occasions. There was one event I remembered vividly about eating at a restaurant. I went to a restaurant with three American classmates, and the waitress came asking whether we'd like something to drink. I tried to order the main dish I wanted and didn't get why the waitress kept telling me that she would take the order later. In Taiwan, if you go to a restaurant, most of the time you will order everything at once (e.g., drinks, appetizer, main dish, etc). Later, I realized that people usually order drinks first, then after you get the drink, the server will come back and ask what dish you want for the main course. Ever since then, I would ask my native friends what they usually do and observe how they behave.
As for the environment, I spent some time getting myself used to the dry air here in Michigan. The humidity in Taipei is really high, often close to 100%, so my skin became really dry after I came to the States. Buying a humidifier and applying lotion more often are the two pieces of advice I can give right now. I knew it would be cold in the winter, but it's not scary. Just get a really nice jacket, a pair of snow boots, gloves, scarf, and a hat. And you can survive the winter! It's actually really fun to see all the snow and go skiing.
What are some of your favorite moments at UMSI?
I really enjoy working with classmates at UMSI, because the mindset of MSI students is really different from a business student. I always learn some new things when working with them. For example, during class activities in SI 588, fundamental human behaviors.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you have encountered as an international student since you came to UMSI?
Some classes at UMSI require more writing, and it's not just casual writing, but academic writing. I think this is one of the biggest challenge an international student will face at UMSI.
In regards to internships, how did you go about finding one and were there any difficulties that you ran into?
Since I started at Ross in the first year, my internship recruiting was focused on MBA intern positions. The biggest challenge I faced when looking for an internship last year was networking. In Taiwan, networking isn't a big thing in the recruiting process. Therefore, I was really nervous at the beginning -- I didn't know what to talk to the recruiter or alumni from the company about. To make things worse, you sometimes need to "cold-call" some alumni to learn more about a company that you are interested in. To be honest, I still feel nervous now if I am going to cold-call some alumni. However, practice makes perfect! Also, try to think all these networking efforts as you really want to get to know a person and make friends with him or her.
Do you have any tips on financial management?
I cook my myself pretty often. I think it's a good way to save some money and to stay healthy!
