Alumn Profiles
That's me. Right there, behind that camera. Flickr is a bit of a hobby.
And this is me. Typing these words behind a computer. Writing to you behind another computer. Quite a few weeks overdue at that, but I happened to write on my thesis advisor's Facebook wall that I'd write this article for the ISF newsletter this weekend. Technically, the weekend passed 4 hours ago, but I haven't slept yet, so I guess I'm making the deadline.
That's what I wrote my thesis about. No, not the procrastinating or what's technically a weekend, but Facebook. And not just Facebook, but all of it: MySpace, LinkedIn, Xanga, Blogger, ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, Meebo, Hotmail, Gmail, Flickr, et cetera. Whatever! You name it! You know it. It's us. Our generation.
Isn't it quite peculiar how connected we are despite being s0 ... disconnected? My thesis advisor is 15 miles away in Berkeley! We can't really see or hear each other, but with web applications like Facebook, we have the opportunity to interact with each other in this virtual realm composed of what - electrons? The Internet is amazing!!
Why Facebook? More generally, why is social networking so popular online? I think it's because we want community, and we want to stay connected.
It's funny because over 90% of communication is not words, but facial expressions, body language, and vocal intonation. I suppose that's why we invented emoticons (those smiley faces we supplement online chat with) and why we SuperPoke! each other on Facebook. I'm sure we'd all love to "throw a sheep" at one of our friends, but we just can't. They're too far away. That, and most of us are probably not strong enough to throw sheep anyway.
Mankind is evolving, and technology is evolving human interaction. We're adapting to compensate for the loss of nonverbal expression. We're improving our online communication to better connect with each other.
Ironically, the more time we spend connecting with each other in the virtual realm, the more time we spend disconnecting ourselves from each other in the physical realm! And yet, with each generation, more and more people are spending more and more time online! Perhaps the ideas of The Matrix won't be so far-fetched one day.
But I won't get into that now.
I could write about this topic for at least 40 pages. Probably because I already did ... when I completed my thesis! Writing that many pages may seem daunting, but honestly, if it's a topic you're passionate about, it's actually a lot of fun!
For me, this is what the heart of Interdisciplinary Studies was about; the opportunity to write about, research, and study what I wanted to learn. I got to satisfy, discover, explore, and open myself up to the curiosities of my profession.
I have been a front-end web developer for Hotwire, a subsidiary of Expedia, for the past 2 years. Hotwire is a company based in San Francisco that specializes in the online purchase of discount travel. I began working here not long after I graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 2004.
Hm. Developing web applications along with an online community of shoppers to encourage people to step away from their computers to physically travel and connect with other parts of the world. Rather befitting, no?Christine Lee
Christine.lee@microsoft.com
Christine Lee graduated in Spring 2006 with a major in Interdisciplinary Studies and a focus on Consumer Behavior and Society. As an undergrad, she was extremely involved in the Associated Students of the University of California as an intern, as a Senator-elect and as the Executive Vice President. All throughout college, she was spread thin and spread thick with her involvement in the ASUC, various student groups, and the Greek system.
Not only did Christine like to pursue multiple interests within her extracurricular activities, but in her learning and education in her various undergraduate concentrations: Business Administration, Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy. ISF enabled and empowered Christine to deep-dive into the areas that she was most interested in and simultaneously allowing flexibility with her multiple involvements and her semester abroad in Milano, Italia. Her professors challenged her to narrow in on specific topics and areas which pushed her to key her eye on the common thread that held together each of her courses, her senior thesis and her activities and involvements.
After graduation, Christine chose a career at Microsoft Corporation with the online advertising group in New York City. Because of her studies in consumer behavior and the changing modern society, the online industry was a perfect fit. Christine has been successful in her sales support role and was recently promoted into a sales position. She notes that ISF had challenged her to focus narrowly and broadly at the same time- this enabled her and empowered her to take the initiative to focus on specific areas of interest which propelled her into her new position.
Amidst her demanding workload and the constant changes in the industry, Christine has been able to focus on her career as well as various extracurricular activities and groups. In Spring'07, Christine participated in a peace mission with FSL India (Field Services & Inter-Cultural Learning) that focuses on rural development, environment protection, children, and school renovation. Also throughout the year, she helps fundraise for various organizations (i.e. Clinton Foundation, NYCares, etc.), mentors high school students from lower-income families with the Minds Matter program, and participates in various non-profit groups in they city.