By Jess Benninger ’26, staff writer
Ellen Raum has had a wide variety of life experiences—from partaking in the fencing club in college to living in China, Ellen has made the most out of the opportunities that she was presented with.
Lately, Ellen has been a valued career coach at Lebanon Valley College’s Breen Center for Career and Professional Development.
“I really do love the work I do [at the Breen Center] because it’s so much variety, and resumes and cover letters have always been something that I have been proud of myself for doing,” Ellen beamed as she discussed her past and current work with career development.
Although she loves her job of helping college students prepare for post-collegiate life, she did not always know that this was the career she would end up in. One thing that she did know, however, was that she really enjoyed her own undergraduate college experience.
During her time at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Ellen majored in international studies and Asian studies. When she wasn’t studying, Ellen took part in a wide variety of activities, such as the fencing club.
“I became a part of the fencing club because it was a bunch of nerds who wanted to play with swords… that’s how I ended up in fencing for college.”
Ellen also prides herself on her involvement with Model European Union (EU).
“Another thing I’m really proud of from undergrad was Model EU. I represented countries, and we did a few different competitions. It’s basically like live-action role-playing but for politics—so a different form of nerdiness. We would go down to D.C. and go to the embassy of the country we were representing and hear about current issues and stuff like that from them, and then we would go represent them in a mock EU. That was so much fun, I loved that.”
Ellen has always had an interest in learning about other cultures, but she feels drawn to one continent in particular—Asia.
From an early age, Ellen was interested in Asian works such as manga and anime. Ellen found that these childhood passions would be extremely useful when she was faced with a serious question years later—what should she major in? The answer was clear—international studies and Asian studies encompassed everything that Ellen was passionate about.
“[Anime and manga] are where the whole Asian studies thing came from because I kind of grew up with that stuff. I was a Pokemon kid. In fourth grade, I remember my friend lending me his manga, and then we would swap manga all day. For years and years, we would swap manga back and forth.”
When Ellen was pursuing her undergraduate degree in 2015, she was presented with the opportunity to study abroad in Shanghai, China. Considering her love for Asian culture, she took decided to study at Shanghai Normal University for four months.
“I enjoyed having the opportunity to learn how to be independent. When I look back—I always joke about this—every day felt like I was being Bear Grylls in survival mode. It wasn’t like desperation and being scared, it was more about like, ‘How do I navigate a city where I barely understand the language?’”
Ellen was one of three Americans to go on the trip, but she enjoyed the chance to learn more about people from other cultures.
“I met people all over the world when I was there—like Germany, the UK, a lot of people from France and Italy, as well. I met someone from Israel and Chile. So, I met people from all over the place, which was really rewarding. When I went back to China, I was also working with people from all over the place. I’ve had the chance to work with a little bit of everyone, which is really fun.”
Even with the challenge of being surrounded by strangers while studying abroad, Ellen loved her experience.
“Having the ability to just go wherever and experience something new was really cool.”
Although Ellen loved her college experience as a whole, she faced some difficulty in finding a job after graduation. One opportunity arose and conveniently allowed Ellen to spend more time abroad. From 2017 to 2018, Ellen lived and worked as a college counselor at a Chinese-American high school in China. All that Ellen needed to pursue this experience was her passport.
“I really thrive on having that cross-cultural connection. That was something that I was originally very passionate about, and I still am, but I’m also very much into always learning and learning about new things and experiencing the world around me and hearing about what people do and all that stuff.”
After her time living in China, Ellen returned to the U.S. to work in admissions at Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania. Although she enjoyed meeting new people in admissions, Ellen craved a career that was not accompanied by so much pressure.
Now, Ellen loves her job as a career coach, although she did not anticipate working in career services.
“That whole experience of trying to find a job and how much it affected me—both before and after China—kind of led me into career counseling as well.”
For now, Ellen is content with her job at the Breen Center.
“I don’t really intend on leaving here anytime soon because this was kind of my goal in life. I wanted to get to a place where I could do the kind of work that I’m doing now, which is like working with students one on one, counseling them and helping them with whatever they need. This is where I wanted to be, so I don’t foresee myself leaving anytime soon.”
Ellen doesn’t know exactly where she’ll end up in the future.
“I would definitely consider living abroad again. The opportunities and the different lifestyle were honestly just awesome.”