Interviewer: Holly Deng
—Introduce Yourself!
My name is Omega Tennant, born and raised in McDonough, Georgia. Vanderbilt class of 2015. Back in 2014, I was the Director of Expansion at GCC, and participated in GCC on campus as well. Currently, I work for the Department of State with the Critical Language Scholarship Program. In 2014, I participated in the CLS Program myself in Guangzhou.
CLS Program is basically a scholarship provided by the government in languages that are deemed critical, like Mandarin, Arabic, and Russian. In Xi’an, the program is with Mandarin. Each site has an 8 to 10-week-long program and is centered around language learning. I am the resident director here on the ground, a bridge between the Department of State American Council side and Shanxi Normal University where the program is hosted.
Also, I founded Omega Mind, a consulting and teaching company that works mostly with universities and other educational programs. I am glad to see how GCC has indeed expanded globally and at Vanderbilt as well.
—What was your most memorable experience at GCC?
My most memorable experience was working to help establish a chapter over in Germany. We communicated constantly with other team members across the world, me based in Nashville, other members in China, Toronto, and California all helping to establish the a chapter in Germany. It was so much fun, and it really puts the ‘G’(Global) in GCC.
The chapter in Germany was particularly motivated and ended up having outstanding turnout with members from various universities. Looking at these different places—you have Europe, OCN, and Asia—the material that they requested, the way they wanted to structure, putting together their initial board, and the way we were assisting them was very different from place to place. Yet there were many similarities in topics that they wanted to discuss, like economics and policies and how they impact each region. That was by far the best experience. It was great to just open my email and see new chapter inquiries from different countries. It was great to see how connections were made from Nashville, a smaller town back then.
—What’s your opinion on studying abroad in college or in general? What was your most memorable experience while studying abroad in China?
Studying abroad is a MUST do. Wherever you go, just leave your hometown. Even if you do an exchange program at a different university in the same country, it is going to have a benefit.
My first studying abroad experience was in 2013 in Beijing for half a year. I was fresh in the ‘tea’ of China. It was definitely eye-opening in terms of the history. Learning the history from on the ground versus in book is something that the study abroad experience can only provide, particularly when you are rooming with local roommates and paired with language partners. Study abroad program centered around language was more immersive and put you in an uncomfortable situation. In the end, it is for your highest growth.
Prior to coming to China, I studied Spanish, and traveled some countries in South America. I was fully immersed both in terms of the progress that I made linguistically, but also just the growth in my experience as a person and the relationship I built with people. So, now I feel that I have three sets of parents, my biological parents, my family in Peru, and a family here in China. You grow in terms of relationships and your own perspectives of what you yourself is able to do.
——How has your language study helped you in your career? Do you have any advice or tips regarding language learning?
In terms of language learning, the main thing to remember is that it’s not about perfection. I think the term fluency is very over-used and does not have a very defined scope anymore. You could be very much competent in one aspect of the language but lack the language in another area. That’s the same even in our mother tongue. So, the main thing is to release this fear of fluency and this feeling that you must acquire this golden elephant of fluency, and simply learn sentence by sentence, conversation by conversation. If you feel great that you know enough to survive and have a meal, then enjoy that.
Last year, I did a speech series called the Language Lever, looking at language cognitively and professionally. You use language as a pendulum in order to help you mentally and professionally to acquire the insight that without it you wouldn’t be able to get. On a personal level, there are many scientific studies that shows the benefit of language. For example, it is good for both age and brain activity as you are learning. Language study also helps you more quickly be able to learn new skills. Specific for me, I feel like learning different languages, such as Spanish, Mandarin, and Portuguese. It is a snow-ball effect.
After I graduated, the second company I worked for was a financial technology company, working with large financial institutions like U.S. Bank. During the coding, initially it was just managing the project and making sure people know what they are going do and when. However, I wanted to know what they were doing, how they are doing it, and why. All these coding languages and technology are languages themselves. Learning foreign languages primes your brain to be able to say, ‘this is not too challenging, let me write the next sentence.’ It makes it exciting instead of overwhelming.
The last thing is on relationships. There is a quote by Dale Carnegie who said, ‘speak to someone in a language they know, it goes to their heads; but speak to them in a language that is their mother tongue, it connects with other’s heart.’ Of course, we can do business with someone in English, but there is a difference in someone’s demeanor and even eyes. It is like a light coming on when hearing someone talk in your mother tongue. That distinctly is the purpose of language.
——At this moment, what do you think in terms of things that we, as American and Chinese students, can do to help improve the mutual understanding between the U.S. and China?
I think the only way to increase understanding, especially as related to cultures and people, is exposure, and it can’t be exclusively through newspapers. In fact, ideally it is not through newspapers and news because that is presented to you versus you being able to immerse within. Building friendships with people from that place and having conversations is key. Take subjects you learnt in class and have conversations with persons from that place or who actually experience it. That’s why it is critical in a study abroad context as well.
——What prompted you to start Omega Mind?
When I graduated, I worked for the company I mentioned for a year and a half. Prior to that, I worked in a different company, more so consulting, for eight months. During that time, it was enjoyable in gaining new skills and exposure to people from different levels of corporate America. Through that I realized, essentially, skills and abilities didn’t have to be bucketed within a full-time position and salaried employees to benefit corporates and organizations.
One option is to work on a full-time payroll, and another is free-lancing and offering your specialized skills under contract with the organization. The second option provides more flexibility to work on more unique projects within the time frame. From that, I knew 9 to 5 didn’t really sit well with me, as well as just that very rigid, cut-off, and repetitive type of work demanded from permanent employees.
2016 is when I started working independently outside those full-time jobs. For a year and a half, I juggled the two simultaneously. May 2017 is when I left my last full-time company and began contracting with them. Then in November, I decided to try free-lance full time. Now it’s been two years and there is no turning back. I have no regrets and I actually highly recommend in terms of entrepreneurship, free lancing, and contract work.
The benefit of contract work is being able to see and develop skills in a pressure cooker. It’s like you go and you have this new environment. You have to acclimate more quickly, and you have to get to work, doing what’s needed more quickly. The expectations for outcome are higher and short-termed. You enjoy that sprint and then you start over. Someone may say that is exhausting, but I find that beneficial in the same way as study abroad experiences: It is entrepreneurship. You have to go out of comfort zone, and you are working with different people and organizations, but also you can more clearly brand and define who you are in this large global context. Confidence and leadership are keys.
Comments