Alexa J. Williams '14

Alexa J. Williams ('14)

1. Please tell us a little about yourself!

I grew up on Cape Cod and graduated from Wellesley in 2014 with a degree in English and a minor in Chinese Language & Culture. I now live in Boston in the Fenway/Kenmore area with my fiancée.

2. Why did you decide to become a Chinese Studies minor? How did it shape your experience at Wellesley?

I wanted to take a language that was totally outside of my wheelhouse, and decided to stick with the minor after studying abroad in an intensive Chinese language program in Beijing. My time in Beijing was absolutely one of the formative experiences of my young adulthood and I carry those memories with me to this day. The faculty in the Chinese department at Wellesley were also phenomenally supportive.

3. What are you doing now?

After graduating from Wellesley and working for a year, I went back to grad school for an MLIS. I'm currently the assessment librarian at Emmanuel College. It's basically the librarian version of a data analyst.

4. How has your Wellesley experience and your major influenced your life/career after college?

I'm still best friends with people from Wellesley to this day, and likely will be for the rest of my life. Though I don't currently use my Chinese language skills in my day-to-day work life, studying Chinese language and literature in college has sparked a lifelong interest and appreciation of culturally diverse lit that has made me a better librarian. Also, as a lifelong eastern MA resident, studying abroad was my opportunity to live somewhere totally different that I would not have had without the opportunities I had at Wellesley.