Christina Kim
Associate Director, Project Management
CSUF
Fullerton, CA USA
“In the world of higher education, degrees do matter. Graduate degrees and networking from graduate programs can definitely help you get your foot in the door.”
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
Family moved from Korea to U.S.A. when I was six years old.
Upon graduating from undergrad, I continued on to graduate school, partly because I wanted to teach and partly because I didn't know what else to do.
I took a position with the Council for Exceptional Children in DC. This move took me out of NYC and into my first education job that is not teaching.
After moving back to NYC and taking a Director of Preschool position, I got laid off due to budgetary reasons so I decided to go back to grad school-this time at Oxford University and moved to the UK.
After teaching for a year in the UK, I landed a position as Educational Services Coordinator at Hunter College and moved back to NYC. This was my first job in higher education.
I used the opportunities of a new supervisor and strong work reputation to move up the ladder and became the Director of Academic and Student Affairs at Hunter College, School of Education.
After having a baby later in life, my family made the decision to move to California to be closer to family. I took a position as Chief of Operations for the Division of Student Affairs at CSUF.
After a year and half as COO, I needed to adjust my work-life balance and transition into a role in Extension and International Programs at CSUF.
Education
High School
Whitney High School
Whitney High School
Bachelor
History/Art history
University of California, Los Angeles
History/Art history
University of California, Los Angeles
Graduate
Educational Research Methodology
Oxford University
Educational Research Methodology
Oxford University
Career
Associate Director, Project Management
I support the AVP of Extension & International towards project completion and accountability for unit goals.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Education
Business
Accomplishing Goals
Day to Day
The day begins with catching up on email and reading a lot of articles in the areas of extended education, professional development and workforce development. Then the day is riddled with meetings with various stakeholders throughout the campus as well as with members of the Executive Leadership Team in order to keep progressing with the work at hand. I spend a lot of time networking and building relationships on campus.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
Graduate school. In the world of higher education, degrees do matter. Graduate degrees and networking from graduate programs can definitely help you get your foot in the door. I am pretty confident that without degrees from UCLA, Columbia University and Oxford University, I would not have had gotten an interview with Hunter College.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Bachelor
History/Art history
History/Art history
Graduate
Educational Research Methodology
Educational Research Methodology
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Society in General:
"There's so much burnout in special education teaching. "
Challenges I Overcame
First-Generation Immigrant
