Hilda Kong is currently a Business Administration and International Studies double major who expects to graduate in June of 2013 from the University of California, Irvine. Her fields of study greatly reflect her interests and past experiences…

Hilda was born in Hong Kong, and spent the first part of her childhood there. When she turned 8, her family moved to the United States and settled in the quaint city of South Pasadena, California. Throughout high school, her participation in the student government allowed her to value diversity and enjoy the company of peers who work for a common goal. Her responsibilities as the Senior Class Treasurer peaked her interests in the business field. By handling a $20,000 budget, planning events such as Graduation, Baccalaureate, Senior Breakfast, and heading the Senior Activities Committee, Hilda became practiced in financial management and transaction handling. As she developed to be more business-minded, her interest in learning languages also shaped her choice of studies today.

Growing up with a Cantonese father and Taiwanese mother, Hilda was raised to learn both Cantonese and Mandarin, very useful languages in the area that she resides today. After moving to South Pasadena, she took Spanish and Japanese for three years in high school. Though Spanish is slowly escaping her memory, Hilda is still interested in Japanese and plans to continue her education in the language in the years to come. Hilda finds the different cultures of the world fascinating, and pursues International Studies education today to enrich her knowledge about the different people of the world. She will continue to practice her languages, and if not master them, at least learn funny and useful phrases for communication. 

Professionally, Hilda has held a few positions that have trained her as a responsible employee and trusted associate. Hilda has tutored many students between the ages of eight and sixteen. She also worked at San Marino Chinese School as a Teacher’s Aid, directing order in the classroom and helping the instructor with various tasks. During her first year and the following summer, Hilda worked as a center attendant at the Mesa Court Housing Community in UC Irvine. Hilda maintained the operations of the centers, scheduled programming of events, and supported professional staff and residents with their issues. In her second year, Hilda handled operations and financial analysis as the financial broker assistant at MCM Financial Group, a financial firm that handles life insurance, qualified retirement plans, and investment options for its clients. Currently, Hilda works as a project management intern for the Global Real Estate and Corporate Services department at Broadcom Corporation. Her responsibilities include completely due diligence for financial purchases, competitive analysis between vendors, processing orders, and much more. These experiences have taught Hilda punctuality, responsibility, efficiency, organization, and other skills that she desires to carry on to her career path in the future. 

In addition to learning languages, Hilda also likes to sing, eat, sleep, and go on random adventures. Hilda enjoys travel, hiking, exploring the roads, and nature in general. Amongst the many things that she has not experienced, Hilda would like to go snowboarding, jet-skiing, scuba diving, rock climbing – anything new and exciting that can enrich her life. Of course, she also enjoys off-time to hole up in her bed and watch TV all day.