Legacy of Diversity


For the past year,Marisa Lum ’12—an Asian studies major from New York City—has called China home. Last summer, she interned for a Chinese educational television station in Shanghai. She then spent two semesters in Beijing participating in the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies at Tsinghua University, while also contribut- ing to an expat magazine, teaching English, and working on Chinese-English translations for the China Development Brief, a publication that reports on social development. Now, she’s spending her days in Beijing’s business district as an intern at Edelman Public Relations, an independent PR firm with offices worldwide.


International Intern Marisa Lum ’12 “I thought I would have to leave China at the end


of the academic year but the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives offered me funding from the Legacy of Diversity Endowed Fund for this summer intern- ship,” said Lum. “I am grateful to all the alumnae who made this possible for me.” At Edelman, Lum researches marketing and


business proposals and acts as a media liaison in both English and Chinese. She’s excited to be applying her Chinese skills in a work setting. “It’s also a chance to experience a corporate setting and the operations of an American company in China.” Lum also has been conducting research for an


independent study on New Confucianism that she’ll work on during her senior year with Jonathan Lipman, Felicia Gressitt Bock Professor of Asian Studies. She knows that she’ll return to campus a different person than she was before she left. “I’ve been a participant in Chinese society—that’s a unique experience.”


Lum, a third-generation Chinese American,


began studying Chinese during her first year at Mount Holyoke. As for her major, she says she was inspired to pursue China studies by her grandfather, who taught her Chinese poetry throughout her childhood. Though Lum is unsure whether she’ll pursue


graduate studies or seek work that utilizes her media and public relations skills, she does know that she’ll return to China someday. “It’s already such a big part of my life. I can’t imagine not going back.”


Marisa Lum ’12 is the seventh recipient of an interna- tional internship funded by the Legacy of Diversity Endowed Fund. Since the Campaign launched, $100,000 has been contributed to the fund, and $2.7 million has been contributed to the Legacy of Diversity initiative overall. For details: www.mtholyoke.edu/go/legacy or call Rashonda Hosendove at 413-538-2619.


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