What Do Students Say About Our Program?
Success Stories from New Students
Waley Lin
Waley attended Bellevue College full-time while working full-time. He graduated from the UW Foster and is a strategy associate working in KPMG’s Deal Advisory practice, focusing on valuation, integration/separations, synergy recognition, and due diligence.
Amelia Eckhardt
Amelia was a Running Start student and the co-president of the Business Leadership Community in 2023-24 and credits her experience leading the student organization with her acceptance into Stanford University.
Yue Zhang
Yue graduated with a Bachelors in Accounting and Business Analytics from Seattle University where she was selected for the prestigious Alfie scholarship. She completed her masters in accounting at the UW Foster School. While at Bellevue College, Yue worked in the Business tutoring center where she had access to many faculty who mentored her. She valued the experience she got from the multicultural consulting course where she worked with a book publisher who focused on slow food. She now works at Big Four accounting firm EY as assurance and transaction diligence staff.
Million Zaid
Million graduated from UW Foster with a BBA in Information Systems. He interned with Amazon and is starting his career with big four accounting firm EY as a technology risk consultant.
Success Stories from Returning Students
Mary Mitchell (left) and Jennifer Wiszniewski
Mary started at Wiley College and then transferred to the Business Transfer program because she wanted to return to the Seattle area. She went on to graduate from UW Foster and completed a MS in Information Systems. After working at RSM, a midsize accounting firm, she now runs her own consulting firm.
Jennifer had graduated from the UW with a BA in drama but wanted to pursue a career in business. She completed her Associate in Business which prepared her for a Graduate Certificate in Accounting.
Success Stories from International Students
Brandon Ting
When Brandon Ting first arrived at Bellevue College, he was placed into English Level 2 for non-English speakers. The subject had been his worst in Taiwan. “They felt sorry for me,” said Ting. “When I arrived, I couldn’t even spell, ‘student,’ but I really wanted to learn!”
Through an incredible amount of determination and hard work, Ting graduated from Bellevue College and the University of Washington Foster School of Business. In 2010 he explored ramen on the recommendation of a BC classmate. He started Kizuki Ramen and Izakaya based on authentic Japanese ramen. During Covid, Brandon faced more challenge, having to lay-off 200 employees. But he has come back stronger than ever, growing Kizuki to 16 locations throughout the US. His second restaurant chain is Swish Swish, a hot pot genre, is adding a location, and he started his third chain, Supreme Dumpling, by securing one of the best Taiwanese chefs.
Brandon recently received the Model Taiwan and Overseas Entrepreneur award from the President of Taiwan. Started in 1978, it has the longest history of Taiwan’s national awards for entrepreneurship. The award committee vets contestants with high standards on business management, structure, and social responsibility.
Clairine Runtung
Clairine earned a BA in Finance & Entrepreneurship from the University of Washington Foster School. She is a recent Class of 2020 graduate of Yale School of Management. She previously worked as a venture capitalist at Convergence Ventures, an early-stage tech venture capital firm based in Jakarta, Indonesia. She was a project manager at Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa (YCAB Foundation), an Indonesian-based non-profit organization focusing on education for disadvantaged youth and a management trainee at Franklin Templeton Singapore. She is passionate about women and youth empowerment, as well as the intersection between technology, social impact and private sectors particularly in the field of consumer products, education, and sustainability.
Khoa Nguyen graduated from UW Foster and Georgia Tech and is a data engineer at Meta. Anh Nguyen graduated from UW Foster and is a Customer Success Account Manager at Microsoft.
Success Stories from Running Start Students
Sai Vasudevan
Sai was a Running Start student who completed all the requirements of his Associate in Business. He was accepted at UW Foster and NYU but settled for the University of Texas Austin. Sai also took the Multicultural Consulting course (BA 241) where he worked with a real entrepreneur developing marketing strategies for his BBQ food truck.
Hear what Sai had to say about his experience in the Business Transfer Program.
Chai Saeyang
In 2009, Chai (second from left) was a Running Start student who was part of a student consulting team working with a women-owned organic food market. Chai says the experience really helped her build confidence. She went on to graduate from UW Foster and work at Coca Cola as an area district manager. She graduated with her MBA from the Kelley School at the University of Indiana and now works as a senior brand manager at Proctor and Gamble.
Ron Fine
Ron was an active member of the Business Learning Community when he was a Running Start student in the Business Transfer Program. He graduated from the Kelley School of Business at the University of Indiana which he attended on scholarship. Currently, he works as an investment banking analyst at RBC Capital Markets in New York City.
How Do I Learn More?
We offer many opportunities for learning and making connections in the business community. Learn about the many advantages of spending two years with the Business Admin Transfer program. Contact Leslie Lum llum@bellevuecollege.edu.
Last Updated July 2, 2024