Yul Kwon, winner of CBS’s hit show Survivor: Cook Islands, came to 51Թ last week as part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
During a workshop organized by the student-run Asian Awareness Coalition about achieving professional and academic success after college, Kwon shared some useful pointers.
“Develop social networks, pursue your passion, and ask employers for feedback,” Kwon said.
If anyone is qualified to speak about success, Kwon is certainly the one.
After earning degrees from Stanford and from Yale Law School, he served as an attorney and then as a legislative aide to U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, during which time he helped draft portions of the Homeland Security Act.
Several years ago, Kwon transitioned into the business sector, first joining McKinsey as a management consultant and then crossing over to Google’s business strategy group.
After winning Survivor: Cook Islands, the highly controversial, racially-segregated season of CBS’s hit reality show, Kwon utilized his new-found fame to garner support for several charitable organizations, including bone marrow drives and The Asia Society.
During his workshop, Kwon shared several accounts of his personal life, including the criticisms that he received from his parents after joining the Survivor cast.
His parents emigrated to the United States from South Korea. According to Kwon, they taught him to be filial, ambitious, and above all, successful. By no means did reality television fit into their vision of success.
However, Kwon knew that Survivor would be a perfect opportunity for him to defy some of the Asian-American stereotypes that can appear in the media.
As a result, Kwon went forward with his decision, gave up his lucrative position with Google, and took a risk.
Kwon struck a chord with many of the attendees, particularly those students who currently feel torn between their parents’ expectations and their own.
Students discovered they were not alone and that they, too, could be successful without having to compromise their individual passions and aspirations. This seemed to provide them with a sense of hope; it validated the path that they wanted to take.