01 Why Choose Environmental Science As My Major?
Before I went to college, There‘s a seed in my heart for environmental science. After exploring four or five major directions in the freshman year, I finally found that Environmental Science is really the most suitable major for me. On the one hand, I can reserve knowledge of natural science; on the other hand, I can cultivate my perspective and ability to analyze social issues through public policy research.
02 Plans After Graduation
For now I’m ready to go straight to work. In fact, at the beginning, there was a trade-off between studying and employment, after all, direct work is not a mainstream choice for undergraduates now. By experimenting and asking others, I realized that the academic path was not the best fit for me.
Although I like to analyze and explore problems, doing research requires a long time to live with myself, and I may not be so “seated”. Moreover, I have found the job I like very early, and the position I want to apply for does not have a mandatory education requirement, so I hope to accumulate practical experience as soon as possible.
As far as my personality is concerned, I find myself enjoying the process of constantly connecting with others and looking forward to working in a tight team and constantly making a positive impact on people. Following this line of thinking, I first accumulated a lot of marketing internship experience in the FMCG industry in my junior year. Later, I was lucky enough to receive the Offer of a business analyst in the Atlanta office of McKinsey, so I will engage in management consulting work in the direction of marketing and sales after graduation.
In the long run, I also have a small flame in my heart to start a business, and I hope to have the opportunity to set up my own Sustainable Brand after accumulating enough experience.
03 Rich Internship Experience
I started my internship in the summer of my sophomore year. After interning in the pharmaceutical group of a boutique consulting firm, I was selected for a short program as a Goldman Sachs scholar. In my junior year, I was opened to the FMCG world by L ‘Oreal, and then I went on to intern at 3 consumer goods companies (AmorePacific, Yum China, and Unilever) to test my interest. Some work remotely, some use spare time to frequently travel to Kunshan and Shanghai. Quite a hard year.
What impressed me most was my summer internship in Unilever. I’m in brand development at Dove, which is the product development side of Having a Baby. I was in charge of a new project for Dove’s first product in China – Dove Fragrance blocks. I was involved in the whole chain, from the initial market and consumer research, to the new product positioning, to the later concept testing and new packaging design.
Interestingly, before this project, I barely used soap in the shower, but over the course of the project, I’ve become an avid user of the fragrant block, always carrying one in my bag when I travel, and having a dozen different kinds of soaps piled up on my desk.
Looking back, I still cherish my time at Unilever because I not only saw various aspects before and after making business decisions on consumer products, but also learned how to effectively communicate and reach consensus with Stakeholders inside and outside the company. The most valuable thing is that I got to know a very good boss and partner through the internship, and I still keep in touch with them.
04 Various On-campus job
There are many job opportunities in the school. I have had three on-campus jobs, which have helped me a lot in my job search and professional development.
My first job was in the communication office, assisting in the operation of the official wechat public account and Weibo. At that time, I participated in the production of several popular tweets with tens of thousands of views, which made a good endorsement for me to find an internship in marketing.
My second job was as a Resident Assistant in the residential life department, responsible for community management and event planning, during which my leadership and adaptability were both improved.
My third job was as a Research Assistant in the team of Prof. Junjie Zhang and Prof. Kathinka Furst at iMEP (International Environmental Policy). Doing research is always cracking the “unknown”, and this experience has trained my ability to learn quickly.
05 Unforgettable Leadership Experience
The Resident Assistant (RA) has been my most memorable leadership experience. RA is actually a very distinctive job at DKU, and it is also one of the most difficult on-campus jobs to apply for. Each RA will manage about 40 students, assigned by floor. The main part of our work is to help solve the big and small things in their study or life, including waiting for emergency calls On Duty every week, and mediating roommate friction. Another part of the job is organizing events, which need to be held more than twice a month.
What impressed me deeply was that when the epidemic situation in the past 20 years had just stabilized and everyone returned to school after quarantine, I led another 5 RA members to hold a week-long Random Lunch Match (lunch matching activity). It became one of the largest and most participatory activities in the school at that time. Within a week, we matched nearly 200 students from all grades, helped them meet new friends through lunch, and finally received survey feedback with a positive rate of nearly 95%.
The success of the event is inseparable from the design and execution of the team. I think an excellent leader should, on the one hand, be able to stimulate the enthusiasm of the team for co-creation, and on the other hand, be good at identifying and combining the strengths of members, so that we can achieve the effect of 1+1>2 together.
06 The teachers I want to thank?
During my application to McKinsey, I had two teachers who were particularly helpful: One was Li Hanguo, a one-to-one tutor who was matched with me by the school’s career development office. Li shared a lot with me about his own experiences at Bain and his MBA life at Duke, helped me analyze the pros and cons of working in different industries, and encouraged me to try to apply to top strategy consulting firms.
The other is Professor Charles Chang, who was my mentor on the signature Work. During the period when I was very confused and doubting myself, he encouraged me to believe in myself and not put limits on my life. I had never really thought about working overseas before, but he helped me see the possibility and encouraged me to pursue the path that was right for me.
07 Key Words During 4-years Undergraduate
Widen horizon
During the freshman year, I got to know professors and classmates from different countries. During the summer vacation, I went to South Africa, Taipei and Beijing to attend student summits, where I truly felt the diversity of the world for the first time.
Look out
In my sophomore year, I focused on exploring what I really like and what I yearn for. I did a lot of research projects and internships in and out of school, and began to look for my future direction.
Fight for love
In my junior year, I found my passion and went all out to accumulate experience and make myself competitive in the field I love.
Turning point
Senior year in Duke to reunite with friends, get overseas job opportunities, slowly open the new world.
08 Suggestions To Fellow Students
Find something that excites you and then work hard to excel at it.
Find something that excites you and try to do it well.
Translated and Edited by Zhenyu Tian, Class of 2027
