SEASSI students will join an in-class panel featuring global professionals who will share how language skills and regional expertise have shaped their paths across a range of fields. Panelists will offer stories, advice, and insights to help you explore career possibilities, build connections, and see how your skills can lead to meaningful, globally connected work.
In-Person classes can watch together from Room: Van Vleck B309.
Alex Co
mpton is an author, coach, entrepreneur, and former professional basketball player whose life journey spans cultures, courts, and careers. Born in the Philippines to Peace Corps parents, he grew up between Ithaca, New York, Khon Kaen, Thailand, and Madison, Wisconsin, learning early the power of resilience, adaptability, and mindset.
After a standout high school career that culminated in a Wisconsin state championship, he went on to play Division I basketball at St. Joseph’s University before transferring to Cornell University, where he became team co-captain and a member of multiple honor societies. His childhood dream came true when he spent a decade playing professional basketball in the Philippines, earning league MVP honors and two championships.
His impact extended beyond the court as the co-founder of the Nike Elite Camp in Manila and the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC), which serves as the Philippines’ official high school national championships and an international tournament featuring players of Filipino descent from around the globe. Today, the NBTC engages around 30,000 players annually and hosts one of the largest basketball coaches’ conventions in Asia. Transitioning to coaching, he served as head coach of the Alaska Aces in the Philippine Basketball Association and as an assistant with the Philippine Men’s National Team, competing in international tournaments across Asia and Europe.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, he and his family left Manila with just one suitcase each, planning only a short visit to the U.S. Instead, extended lockdowns radically altered their plans, leading to a permanent move to Madison, Wisconsin. There, he pivoted into entrepreneurship, co-founding ValorPro Global, which connects American businesses with Filipino talent. He is also co-author of Guiding Your Child’s Athletic Journey and speaks to parents, educators, athletes, and leaders on resilience, growth, and the lasting value of character over championships.
Beiyin Deng is an Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and she’s an anthropologist of religion working on contemporary Buddhist material culture and economy, especially the role of material and labor in the context of Burmese Theravada Buddhism, transnational Buddhism between Myanmar and China, and Burmese Buddhists diaspora communities in the United States.
A native of Central City, Kentucky, Macey Mayes is Washington, D.C.-based global affairs professional with a passion for development and cross-cultural understanding. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science with minors in humanities and women & gender studies from the University of Louisville in 2018, graduating summa cum laude. As an undergraduate, she took full advantage of global learning opportunities, studying abroad in China, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
After completing her degree, she earned a David L. Boren Scholarship for intensive Bahasa Indonesia language study through the U.S. Department of Defense. After spending a year in Indonesia through Boren, she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship through the U.S. Department of State, serving as an English Teaching Assistant in Malaysia.
Since graduation, Macey has built a career in international trade and diplomacy. Currently, she serves as an International Program Specialist at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP), where she designs and implements initiatives supporting regulatory reform in developing and post-conflict countries. Her work has taken her across five continents, including two temporary duty assignments in Ukraine. Her previous experience includes roles in trade analysis and compliance in the public and private sector.
Veronica Y. Pham is an artist, educator, and designer. She received an MFA in Textile, Design Studies, and Material Culture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a recent grant recipient of the St. Botolph Club Amelia Peabody award in sculpture and most recently taught design at the University of Vermont. Pham shows her work internationally and nationally. She has written the article Moments of Chây: Ecological Knowledge of Traditional Papermaking in Việt Nam, in the Winter 2023 issue of Ecology and Paper in the Hand Papermaking magazine and is a co-writer in Contributions of Ethnobiology, a collaborative interdisciplinary manuscript on Hand Papermaking Traditions in Việt Nam. Pham has also taught Vietnamese papermaking workshops at Penland School of Craft, Ox-Bow at Paper Book Intensive, Minnesota Center for the Book, Chazen Arts Museum, and Fresh Press Paper. Pham continues to work with traditional and contemporary papermakers in Vietnam with a focus on collaborative projects and research.