Learning English, economics and independence all at the same time

In high school, Yunwei Ni ’25 knew she wanted to graduate from college with one key thing: independence. “That was something that was very important to me,” she said. “I want to be independent, physically or economically speaking, and I also want to be one of those people who can do independent thinking.”

With its rigorous liberal arts curriculum and its history of graduating ambitious, independent leaders, Mount Holyoke College immediately stood out as a top choice. The fact that it was also in a rural setting, a world away from Ni’s hometown of Wuxi, China, was a bonus. Relocating to the United States would force her to be independent in a way she’d never had to be before.

During her first semester on campus, Ni worried that her English was not as good as it should be. “I was very nervous,” she said. “I would write scripts before I would talk to people. But everyone was so nice and so patient.” Soon, Mount Holyoke began to feel like a safe place to speak up in class or to join in campus activities — no script needed.

Getting involved as a Chinese tutor and joining the Japanese dance group ODotteMita further helped Ni feel that she was truly a part of the Mount Holyoke community. She remembers the moment when her dance group gathered in a circle, holding hands before their first performance at China Night. “We’re not religious, but it was like a prayer, a ritual, where everyone was hoping the dance would go very smoothly. At that moment, I felt really connected to everyone,” she said.

Finding her footing at Mount Holyoke encouraged Ni to keep exploring. Through the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives, she pursued a semester abroad in the Netherlands, enrolling in an economics course and traveling extensively throughout Europe whenever she could. It was during this semester abroad that Ni realized that she loved solo travel. “I had to figure out everything — traveling and school — by myself,” she said. “It made me a lot more independent.”

Ni even chose her major with an eye toward her future ability to provide for herself. While she’s always loved the humanities, her parents advocated for her to choose a STEM pathway. Economics felt like a good compromise. She added a second major in East Asia studies when she realized she’d nearly met the course requirements through her Japanese language and East Asian history courses.

With the help of the Career Development Center (CDC), Ni has landed three separate internships during her time at Mount Holyoke. Her first internship — with an educational nongovernmental organization that provides online learning for children in rural areas — inspired her current independent study project. Ni’s research into the efforts of NGOs in aiding economic development in rural China spans her majors in East Asia studies and economics. She has also explored the world of advertising as an intern at a Shanghai advertising agency and put her creativity to work as a marketing intern at a manufacturing company in her hometown.

Ni hopes to continue exploring international opportunities after graduation and has secured a Princeton in Asia fellowship. “They have offered me two positions,” she said. “One would be working as a water management fellow in Sri Lanka, and the other would be working as an English teacher in a remote part of Japan. Eventually, I hope to go to grad school in Japan or Singapore. I really want to be abroad.” She received invaluable help from the CDC both with résumé writing and interview prep while applying for the fellowships.

While she’s been glad to have the help and support of organizations such as the CDC during her time on campus, Ni knows that whatever comes next for her, she’s more than equipped to handle it. “Mount Holyoke gave me the sense that everyone has the opportunity to go anywhere they want to,” she said. “It has made me feel that I can be very independent. But beyond that, it’s taught me to think very independently.” Just as she was hoping it would.