Child Actor Jet Sets for Duke

Name: Christiana WuPosition: Associate director of program strategy for Cross Continent MBA, Executive MBA and Alumni Career Services, Fuqua School of Business Career Management CenterYears at Duke: 3

What I do at Duke: My office spends a lot of time doing one-on-one coaching, programming like resume development and interviewing, and connecting students with alumni who work at organizations that can give them perspective or help get a foot in the door. I help students make connections in Durham and abroad which help open up their world to potentially doing something different than what they’re doing right now. 

If I had $5 million, I would: I graduated from Fuqua in 2005 and I’d really like to be a better alum and give money back to both Duke and my undergraduate school, Princeton. I feel like my schools have given me a lot of opportunities. I received financial aid as a student and had the benefit of receiving scholarships that helped me out, so I’d like to give back more than what I’m currently giving. I’d also still keep my job because I like what I do. I don’t think it feels like a job for me, even though there are always challenges.

My first ever job: I’m originally from Los Angeles and it sounds so cliché, but I acted as a kid. When I was 5, I got cast in a Johnson & Johnson  shampoo commercial, but I got chicken pox right before it was supposed to film and I couldn’t be in it. But I did end up doing commercial acting for McDonald’s and Barbie. I acted from 5 to 15. But I wasn’t a big time actor or anything, and I stopped because my mother wanted me to focus on school.

My dream job: I would love to write. I’ve always been intrigued by it and I think it’d be a cool job, but I’m not sure what I’d write about. It would definitely involve some sort of travel, which I do get to do now, fortunately.

If someone wanted to start a conversation with me they should ask me about: My favorite restaurants. I’m a big foodie and I’m pretty adventurous. Wherever I go, I love scouting out hole in the wall places, but here in Durham I’m a huge fan of Dame’s Chicken & Waffles. 

The best advice I ever received: My parents always told me hard work would get me where I needed to go. My father would say to me that nobody owes me anything, which meant to me you get what you deserve if you work and put in time and effort. My family was all about having to grit and hard work is so critical to that.

When I’m not at work, I like to: I’m a big movie buff, so I love to catch as much as possible, from independent to mainstream movies. I would say that I’m a geek at heart and really enjoy sci-fi and superhero movies. Since I’m also a foodie, a great day for me would be hanging out with friends, going to a movie, then come home and make a nice meal for everyone.

Something most people don’t know about me: My mother is Chinese and Philippina and my father is from Taiwan, but I grew up not being able to speak a word of Chinese. My parents came from different backgrounds and different native tongues, but I grew up only speaking English and not any other language.