Life Beyond Degree: OSU East Asian Languages & Literatures Undergraduate Career Pathways

The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, in  conjunction with ASC Center for Career and Professional Success, is  organizing a "Life Beyond Degree: DEALL Undergraduate Career Pathways"  workshop 2:15~3:45 p.m. on Monday, March 28th. This workshop will be  held through Carmen Zoom and is open only to OSU students majoring or  minoring in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.

Pre-registration is required to receive the Zoom link: https://go.osu.edu/deall_pathways

This workshop will be the first of two aiming to provide our majors  and minors in DEALL with opportunities to develop their career readiness  (focus of the first workshop) and network with alumni and  industry/government representatives (focus of the second workshop).  Attendees to this first workshop will learn more about how learning East  Asian languages and cultures can contribute to their career development  and what valuable resources are available to help them on their career  paths. 

Three speakers, whose short bios are attached below, have been  confirmed to speak at this workshop: Dr. Patrick McAloon, Executive  Director of the Greater Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Dr.  Benjamin Pachter, Executive Director of The Japan-America Society of  Central Ohio, and Mr. Richard Fajardo, a career coach from ASC Center  for Career and Professional Success.

Speaker bios:

Patrick McAloon, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Greater Columbus  Chinese Chamber of Commerce: Pat's study of Chinese language and  culture began with a bachelor's degree in East Asian Studies at the  College of William and Mary in Virginia; during that time, he spent a  semester at Beijing Normal University. Following college graduation, he  spent six months in Shandong Province through OSU's US-China Links  internship program. That program was the predecessor to today's Advanced  Chinese Language and Culture ("Flagship") program at OSU. From  1999-2001, Pat was a department manager at MeetChina.com, an e-commerce  platform helping Chinese manufacturers find overseas buyers. Shortly  before the dot-com bubble burst, he moved back to the US to earn an MA  and PhD in Chinese Language Pedagogy under Galal Walker in DEALL. After  teaching Chinese at OSU for over a decade, Pat applied his experiences  to helping Chinese and American organizations work together, including  business matching, translation and interpretation, delegation reception,  and delivering study abroad programs in Columbus to Chinese students  for the OSU Global Gateways Office and other Central Ohio partners. In  2020, he became executive director of the Greater Columbus Chinese  Chamber of Commerce, a position he held until this month because...In  2021, McAloon moved to Orange, Virginia, where he and his wife operate  an historic inn. They continue to help American

organizations find and work with partners in the Chinese-speaking  world, and return to Columbus every few months for work. Pat is the  author of Study in China, a guide for individuals considering studying  abroad in Mainland China.

Benjamin Pachter, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Japan-America  Society of Central Ohio (JASCO), a non-profit based in Dublin, Ohio  committed to deepening understanding of and appreciation for Ohio’s  Japanese and American cultures. In this role, he oversees the daily  activities of the society, which include language classes, cultural  outreach activities, and business seminars. He also regularly engages  with local educators, business and community leaders, and government  officials in an effort to help create cultural understanding, improve  Japanese business success, build relationships, and foster education  about Japan in Central Ohio.

Benjamin is also an ethnomusicologist with a research focus of  Japanese music. He received his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology, writing his  dissertation on the musical history of contemporary taiko performance in  Japan and the United States. He is also a performer of taiko, serving  as Assistant Director of Dublin Taiko, a student taiko group that is  part of Dublin City Schools, Dublin, OH.

Richard Fajardo is a Career Coach for the Center for Career and  Professional Success for the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio  State University. He has earned degrees in Business Administration from  Xavier University (bachelor’s) and Bowling Green State University  (master’s), and a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from John  Carroll University (master’s). Richard’s interest in Asian and  Asian-American cultures is natural as he is the son, grandson, and  nephew of immigrants who came to the U.S. from the Philippines. His  favorite global involvement experiences include helping international  students as a career coach and clinical counselor, working as an ESL  tutor, serving as a class officer for his MBA class (nearly 50% of whom  were international students), and working on market research for clients  and co-workers in Canada, Great Britain, and Hong Kong. Richard enjoys  talking with students about their experiences, interests, passions, and  skills; connecting them with other professionals and opportunities; and  helping them make decisions that will enrich their professional and  personal journeys.

ASC Center for Career and Professional Success provides partial  financial and staff support for this workshop, for which we are deeply  grateful.