We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shirlyn Huang a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Shirlyn, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
I’m an extrovert and love being surrounded by people, so whenever I enter a room, I unconsciously walk in with a big smile. But, on days when I’m not feeling as spirited, my biggest piece of advice is to “fake it ’till you make it!” While I was in theater, we were taught the Mesiner Technique, which helps actors emotionally prepare for the stage so that they can bring out a side of themselves that is truthful to the character they’re becoming. Because of these exercises, even though I may be having a bad day, I’m able to compartmentalize my feelings so that my negative emotions don’t affect the people around me, and I let myself feel joy. In other words, I choose to walk into a room happy, and that choice allows me to continue feeling happy, which is probably the “optimism” many people often compliment me for.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
In my first semester of college, I joined Berkeley’s Global Edge program, where I studied abroad in London and was able to focus on my personal interests, such as traveling to different European countries and regions, and learned more about myself outside of my hometown, Arcadia in LA, where I grew up for all 19 years.
Now that I’m back on Berkeley’s campus for my second semester, I have committed myself to my professional goals. I applied to 12 clubs and organizations and was very fortunate to make it to the last round of interviews for many of them, and was eventually accepted to 4. So, I currently work as a Consultant for Berkeley’s Undegraduate Economics Association, the RSO (Registered Student Organizations) Support Intern for ASUC (Assoicated Students of University of California) Office of the President, the Academic and Professional Opportunities Coordinator for ASUC Office of Senator Grottel-Brown, and as a Finance Committee Member for Asian-American Association.
Outside of Berkeley, I work as a self-employed college counselor so that I can help students get into their dream universities as well! If you’re a hard-working individual with big dreams but need help with the writing or application process, please send me a message on Instagram @shirlyn_huang or email me at [email protected].
Furthermore, as a proud advocate, I also work on the Student Advisory Board for 1,000 Dreams Fund, where I will review the applications for our scholarship! If you’re a woman attending high school, a two-year or four-year college/university, or graduate school in the United States and need financial aid, I highly recommend you apply! On the topic of women empowerment, I recently “took over” the role of KFC’s Chief People’s Officer for a day in celebration of International Women’s Day! Thank you so much PlanUSA, for choosing me as their Youth Representative for this opportunity. If you’re a woman interested in building a project to help solve the UN Sustainable Development Goals or would like to encourage gender equality, I highly recommend applying for the PlanUSA’s Youth Leadership Academy.
Through this leadership program, I was able to found YourNarrative, where I encouraged the development of youth’s artistic dreams, especially youth in ethnic minority communities, and donated over 500 of their creations to our community’s hospital and senior center. I also gained so many meaningful connections with other youth advocates and have collaborated with them on projects towards donating humanitarian aid to Vietnam and the LA fires.
Now that I’m in college, I want to further my resolve to promote DEI in the Creative Industry by pursuing a major in Business and gaining shadowing opportunities with media companies.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Passion, hard-working, and self-confidence.
I would not be who I am or have achieved the work I have done if it wasn’t for these three qualities.
These qualities are helpful anywhere you go, but are especially important and necessary for advocates or business owners. You have to allow yourself to challenge the status quo. It’s okay to be scared, but if you’re passionate and confident in your beliefs and yourself, then you won’t waver in your resolve, which is the main reason why many dreams aren’t fulfilled or started. And of course, passion is nothing without hard-work, and hard work will build your confidence.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
This is such a good question. As someone who was very involved in the college admission process–writing her Personal Statement a year before the due date and watching college decision reactions to sleep–I’ve heard a lot of different advice about what colleges are looking for in a student. Do they prefer a student who is well-rounded or has a “spike?” From the numerous podcasts I’ve heard, colleges look for both!
So, my advice is to think about what your interests are and what you want to achieve in the future. What is your dream job, and what are the traits they look for? If you’re very interested in one subject and not so interested in others, then focus on that subject. Most likely, you’re going to pursue a job in that interest, so become someone who is super good at that one strength of yours. If you’re someone who has many strengths, and can’t choose one subject to go all in on, realistically, you’ll end up in a job that needs well-rounded individuals. There’s no right or wrong answer to this. It’s up to you to decide what you care about and lead with that answer.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: shirlyn_huang
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shirlyn-huang/
- Other: Email: [email protected]
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