Student of the Month: Yen-Jung (James) Chen, Taiwan

By Lansing Bryan, January 2, 2018

Yen-Jung (James) Chen is from Taiwan. He came to Green River College in the fall of 2016. He is majoring in Business/Analytics. His goal is to gain work experience by doing an OPT year after he graduates, and then transfer to a top 4-year university such as University of Washington or UC Berkeley. 

Q: Why did you choose Green River College?

James: I chose Green River College not only for the High School Completion and University Transfer programs, but also because of the low cost tuition and proximity to Seattle. I did a lot of research and compared many other community colleges before coming here and I was inspired by the testimonials of the previous students from my country like Alex Tang, Sharon Wu and Emma Li.

Q: What do you like most about attending Green River College?

James: There are three things I like most about studying at Green River College;

  1. Diversity - I have never experienced students from so many countries. This has broadened my view of the world. I have made so many friends. There are a lot of cultural clubs where I can learn about other people. I would not have had this opportunity if I studied somewhere else.
  2. Leadership Opportunities - I feel so honored for the opportunity to be a club president at "Resident Housing Association" and to work in the CLEO leadership program as an International Student Ambassador. These opportunities help me learn valuable communication and management skills and to continuously grow as a leader.
  3. Awesome instructors - I feel really thankful that most of my professors are amazing. My business professors are knowledgeable and approachable, and they also share experience and knowledge from their professional field. In addition, I couldn’t thank my English instructors (Scott Dievendorf and Alicia Bones) enough for not only helping me to develop my English reading and writing, but also to deeply inspire me in my personal life. To me, their classes are unforgettable.

Q: Tell us more about these leadership responsibilities that you have had?

James: During fall quarter, I had the privilege to be project manager for a big on campus event- Halloween party, which turned out to be one of the most successful events this year. Our goal was to improve the on campus engagement, make it fun for the participants, and meet our budget.  Thanks to my teammates (Kuniya Yoshikawa, Cristina Conde, Kaylee Huang, Yujin Choi, and Daan Pijs); we pulled off a very successful event, as well as my awesome volunteer team! We achieved a record number of attendees (703!) and more than 1/3 were American students.

This quarter I’m working on a new project out of ISA events history called "TED style talk", which was inspired by a Lunchbyte done by advisor Jackie, where the Peer Volunteers delivered TED style speeches and share their experience. This time I want to open up the application to the entire campus, and you can start to apply this week. You don’t want to miss this wonderful opportunity.

Q: Would you recommend Green River to your friends?

James: Yes, absolutely! At Green River, the International Programs staffs are really warm and take good care of students. They also offer a lot of programs like "Foundation for Success", "Lunchbyte" workshops and "Student Ambassador" to help you grow. You will develop yourself into a very well-rounded person by grasping on leadership opportunities and surrounding yourself with a variety of cultural experience.

 

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