03/05
It’s been a while since my last post, but welcome to my networking interviews! Over the past few months, I got to interview four truly talented, lovely individuals and I can’t wait to share what we talked about.
My first interview was with Lilly Armstrong ‘20, an alum currently working in banking at the Taiwan branch of BNP Paribas. While at Wellesley, Lilly majored in Economics and Chinese Language & Culture, on top of receiving the Elisabeth Luce Moore ‘24 Grant to intern in Hong Kong and Japan. She’s originally from Australia, but grew up in Hong Kong and Singapore, which was super cool to hear about!
Speaking about how she ended up working in Asia, Lilly shared that her choice of majors at Wellesley and her internship experiences during college really helped guide her along this path. Particularly with her internships, she felt that they helped her start establishing a network early on and gain a taste of what it was like to work in these different countries. After graduating, it was through one of these connections that she landed her first job in Hong Kong. From Hong Kong, Lilly then transferred to Taiwan, which she saw as a great opportunity to use the Chinese that she had learned back in college.
When I asked her how she first decided she wanted to work abroad, Lilly explained that growing up abroad and seeing her parents work abroad brought her to see the value in working with international colleagues and in an international context. Speaking on how she ended up in Taiwan, Lilly said she hadn’t actually really planned for it originally, but was lucky to get this opportunity by putting herself out there and meeting the right people at the right time. A piece of advice that Lilly shared for anyone interested in working abroad was to try starting out with an international company, emphasizing how the international work culture can really help with adjusting to a new environment.
On her own experience adjusting to Taiwan, Lilly talked about how there was definitely a bit of a learning curve with the language barriers here since Taiwan uses traditional Chinese characters and often uses different slang and terminology from Mainland China. During her time here though, she’s been able to stay grounded in her own identity through connecting with Wellesley friends and meeting other Australians working in Taipei:
“Part of the beauty of living abroad is putting yourself outside your comfort zone, but it’s also important to find support through new and old communities.”
As we neared the end of our conversation, we chatted a bit about some of her favorite things about Taiwan, like traveling around the island and 牛肉麵 (beef noodle soup)! Taiwanese food culture is definitely very diverse and I can’t help but agree with Lilly on how good (and cheap!) food is here in Taiwan. Reflecting on how she feels about where she is right now, Lilly mentioned that she feels fulfilled, but also looks forward to what the next step for her will be. Her last piece of advice was to avoid comparing yourself to others and remember that, even if things don’t necessarily happen according to plan, you can always make it happen, it just might need a little more time.
I really enjoyed my conversation with Lilly and what she shared really hit home for me. Thank you to Lilly for taking the time to chat with me! My second interview is coming up next, where I got to speak with my public health professor, Prof. Jessica Chang. I’m excited to share it with you all, so please look forward to it!