From action and drama in films to the way that it brings the world together, Yeongbin “Ellen” Jeon has always had a passion for media communications. A communications arts major specializing in radio, television and film, Jeon has embraced every opportunity to foster connections in a new environment through media. She even chose to pursue a digital studies certificate, further broadening her understanding of the ever-evolving digital landscape.
“I was really interested in films and movies and dramas and everything, since I was really young,” Jeon said. “I think I’ve always had a passion to learn more about media communications, so I try to learn about media and how the media works in a global aspect.”
Born in Seongnam City, near Seoul City, she was raised in Bundang City, one of the most education-based cities in South Korea. Enrolled in an English kindergarten class, Jeon quickly mastered the language and developed a love for learning new languages and cultures—something she credits to her teachers from different countries. In addition to her educational experience, Jeon frequently accompanied her father on his business trips where she was able to interact with students from other countries.
“Those kinds of experiences also impacted me learning more about the world. I feel like Korea is such a small world, but there’s a bigger world outside of Korea,” said Jeon. “So, after I realized that, since I was young, I continuously thought I should go to university in America. That was the one thing that I felt like I should have achieved in my life.”
Jeon started her collegiate career in Sacramento during the COVID-19 pandemic. During her Zoom classes, she would discuss the Netflix series, Squid Games, with her classmates. Hearing how her classmates’ different cultural experiences informed their opinions on the show piqued her interest in global media. She noticed that her American classmates focused more on the content of the show, but other Korean classmates criticized the show’s depiction of Korean history.
“They [her classmates] are really giving attention to media from other countries too. It might be interesting if I could study more about how this same kind of content can affect people [from other countries] differently,” said Jeon.
After transferring to UW–Madison, Jeon was able to not only learn more about how her peers interpreted different media content, but also collaborated with them on creating said media. In one of her communication arts classes, Jeon was able to work with students from different backgrounds to produce film and video.
“It was really interesting to be in one group or team and achieve the same goal to make a good film. It was a really nice experience to collaborate and communicate,” said Jeon. “I think doing the digital media certificate changed my life because now I really feel that after this class, I could be part of other films.”
Jeon also worked as the communications and outreach intern at International Student Services. During her time in this position, she created multimedia content, including videos, photos, and graphic design for the office’s events. Jeon enjoyed interacting with other international students and hopes to have the opportunity to do similar work in her future
“Using Premiere Pro to edit the videos, those kinds of things that I learned in the classroom that I can also use in my work was the best part of the work,” said Jeon.
After graduating in May, Jeon plans on visiting her family in Korea for the summer. In August, she will move to New York to pursue a master’s degree in media, culture, and communication at NYU, and will continue researching how media reaches different audiences globally.