20 MAY 2008

2008-05-20T06:45:00.001-07:00

DAVID LEE '10, a sophomore in Jonathan Edwards college, was selected for one of the Asian American Cultural Center’s highly competitive Externships for Spring Break 2008.

The goal of the externship program is to expose Asian American Yalies to real work experiences in specific fields, such as law, banking or non-profit organizations.

David, along with BEN AU '10, shadowed KUNDUCK MOON '76 at ING Capital for the last week of spring break, and he said it “really opened his eyes to how it was in the real world, as opposed to the image he had formed being raised in an Asian family and in an academic context.”

His duties included shadowing Kunduck, listening in on his phone calls and attending his meetings, and then debriefing on the business and interpersonal dynamics of the banking world.

Here's a one-on-one interview with David about his externship experience:

What made this experience different from any other ‘job-shadowing’ opportunity?

DAVID: “What I thought before this experience is that, the way you get ahead in a workplace is by working hard – and you didn’t have to worry about your appearance…like in a classroom setting, where the grade you get is equivalent to the grades you get on your tests.

But what I realized is that your appearance really matters…In terms of how you present yourself you have to be very confident, not overbearing: as Asian Americans, we are taught to be submissive and not exude confidence when meeting strangers.

Even if you are a very smart guy, if you don’t have confidence in what you’re saying, nobody is going to take your word.”

Would you recommend this experience to other Asian Americans at Yale?

DAVID: “I would recommend it to anybody who is going to work, because there are two kinds of things I got out of it: an understanding of finance, and the other was an understanding of how the workplace actually works. And the importance of maintaining your image, and the relationships you have with both your superiors and subordinates as well.

What I really saw was that Kunduck is very intentional, and spends a lot of time cultivating relationships with his clients, subordinates and superiors.

What impact has the externship had on your school life and other choices?

DAVID: “It exposed me to the world of actual business, and that seems like a cliché phrase, but it’s actually a very different world, you’re not sheltered…If it doesn’t bring in the money, it doesn’t bring in the money.

They’re not going to give you brownie points for effort, because it’s money.”

Has the externship impacted your plans for the summer?

DAVID: “Before this, I had committed to the summer working at MainGrove, which is a start-up microfinance investment vehicle.

If anything though, [the externship] gave me more of a desire to also do MainGrove, insofar as…I didn’t really understand what MainGrove would be like. I thought it would be like sitting in a room, crunching numbers:

Kundook not only does the numbers, but manages relationships with clients, and maintains relationships with a lot of other individuals: that got me very excited for the summer...because I will be exposing myself…to a much broader range of experiences that take me out of the office and into the lives of other people.” ##

Interviewed by Patrick Lee

Asian American Alumni Newsletter, Yale University

20 MAY 2008