Xing Lin '13

Xing Lin '13

Harvard College ’13 (Currier House)
AB, East Asian Studies and Economics

I chose to concentrate in East Asian Studies out of an interest in international business, particularly between the U.S. and Asia. Grateful for the many outlets Harvard provided to pursue this area of study, I took advantage of both EAS classes and those offered by the Economics department as an undergraduate. When the time came during sophomore year to decide on a concentration, I remember the choice being easy. The small size of EAS classes, which allowed for interactive discussions with professors and peers, the study and work abroad opportunities available to EAS concentrators, and, most importantly, the eagerness in which teaching assistants, professors, and faculty offered mentorship to concentrators were reasons enough to persuade me to choose EAS. During my 4 years as an undergrad, I received the opportunity to study abroad in Japan and China and to work abroad in South Korea, all while receiving direct mentorship from top scholars in the field.

After college, I moved across the country to start a career at Dropbox, a technology company headquartered in San Francisco, California. The research, language, and critical thinking skills I developed as an EAS concentrator have since proved to be huge assets to the work I do on a daily basis. Six months after starting at Dropbox, I received the opportunity to help expand the company into the Asia Pacific region. Despite having just moved to San Francisco, I soon found myself on a one year adventure to open offices in Sydney and Tokyo. While abroad, I often referred back to my former international experiences and my EAS classes to apply what I learned towards the business strategies I was developing for the new Dropbox offices. It has been really interesting to witness how a country’s culture and history affect its domestic and international business practices.

[Since the time of this interview, in addition to being an inaugural member of Dropbox, Xing Lin has also worked as a consultant for RO and Wealthfront, and is currently employed as a Product Manager at Airtable.]

I firmly believe that, though Harvard provides its students with many resources to pursue and engage with research beyond the classroom, concentrating in a field that is personally interesting helps create a remarkable undergraduate experience. I feel very fortunate to not only have received abundant resources to travel, study and work internationally as an undergraduate, but also very lucky to have a career where I can continue to use what I've studied on a daily basis. Reflecting back on my undergraduate years, my only regret is not having taken more EAS classes. But there’s always graduate school!