SUMMARY: In the final episode of Tiger Talk, Fanny and Victoria touch on all the topics discussed this season, and wrap up the conversation by discussing allyship. How can YOU be the positive change we wish to see? How can YOU support marginalized individuals in your life and in your community in a respectful, effective, and educated way?

Fanny tackles these questions by talking about the steps she takes in her life to be a good ally, and what that means to her. Fanny and Victoria talk about the difference between allyship and performative activism. They also discuss how to make your allyship more sustainable, and how to address the sense of burnout many people face when trying to fight for social justice. (3/15/2022)

ABOUT OUR GUEST: Fanny Oyang (she/her) graduated from TAS in 2016 and attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a major Animal Science and minors in Integrative Biology and Chemistry.

Since graduating in 2020, Fanny has since shifted her focus to working and learning about social justice in urban spaces. She now works for a Christian non-profit ministry out of Roseland, a south side neighborhood of Chicago, where she helps build youth ministry programs spanning from after school care to music for Black youth, as well as fostering relationships with local churches. In a few months, she will be transitioning out of this two-year stint and moving back to Taipei to apply for graduate programs.

During her free time, she spends way too much time reading and watching documentaries, and also likes to snuggle with her cat!

SUMMARY: In this episode, Melissa provides insightful information about internships by talking about her diverse experience in the journalism and entertainment industry. She discusses the different ways one can access internships, the inequities behind internship opportunities, and the importance of work experience and networks in one’s post college career. Victoria and Melissa bring the conversation back to DEI by reflecting on the fact that many internships, especially those that are unpaid, are disproportionately inaccessible to low income students. (2/15/2022)

Melissa Cho is a bilingual multimedia creative—a journalist, producer-director, and editor (she can’t help but have her hand in several honey pots). Her passion for telling stories stemmed from her high school interests in both journalism and theatre performance. Just recently, she directed and co-hosted an original food pilot at Jubilee Media, a GenZ/millennial-obsessed media company with over 7 million YouTube subscribers. She is currently a freelance associate producer for Condé Nast Entertainment, the mass media company that houses iconic brands such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, GQ, and more.
A lover of digital web content and documentary-style storytelling, Melissa has experience with researching stories, creating news scripts, producing, social media management, editorial and social media design, filming, and video/audio editing. Some of her latest journalism work has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2020 Mark of Excellence Awards. She has been featured on British Vogue, Jubilee Media, and VoyageLA. Her Myers-Brigg is ESFJ (“People Mastery”), so producing human-interest pieces is her jam.

SUMMARY: In this episode, Nick discusses the role religion and spirituality can play in supporting DEI work. As a member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship on campus, Nick shares how religious and spiritual organizations can be a source of community, comfort, and inspiration for social change. Victoria delves into this conversation with questions such as: what kind of resources did your school have for navigating spiritual life? Do you think schools adequately provide resources for students with different cultural backgrounds and belief systems? How does religion affect your identity and the way you approach social issues? (01/15/2021)

Nick Yeh (Class of 2013), graduated from Occidental College in 2017 with degrees in Diplomacy & World Affairs, Theater and a minor in Economics. Aside from all the time he spent studying (which truth be told wasn’t very much, sorry mom), he spent most of his time in Religious & Spiritual Life, particularly involved with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Today, he is a public school teacher in Cambridge working with elementary school students, an IT/AV technician for a local university and his church, a volunteer for an online ministry platform for InterVarsity as well as half a dozen other freelance gigs (as if he needed more things to occupy his time). He is reachable on all forms of social media, and you can read his random musings and food recipes on his website: www.yehheardithere.com. You can also find his discord (VIVID) here: https://discord.com/invite/qzzx5x8