Alumni Profile: William Yale

William Yale, HNC Certificate '13 + SAIS MA '15, is a Surface Warfare Officer in the US Navy currently based in Yokosuka, Japan and an Adjunct Fellow at the American Security Project. 

How did you become interested in China and end up at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center? 
It was 2008 and at that point I had done Latin and German, and my whole family is German, so I was sick of doing German and someone on the lark was Chinese. I stuck with it; it was very hard for the first 2 years. Then I went to Beijing for study abroad with IES Abroad, [a study location at IES] which no longer exists. IES was a great program for introducing me to China. I also took advantage of the travel opportunities and non-language classes. [I also took part in Yale's ACC Intensive Chinese Language and Culture Program in Beijing.] ACC was helpful for developing my language skills--very challenging. They were strict disciplinarians. While in Beijing, I heard the HNC was the best graduate program for studying in China. I was thinking about graduate school after college, so I applied and interviewed at SAIS in DC while I interned at the State Department in 2011. It was my first choice, so I was excited to get in. I spent five semesters studying in the HNC Certificate + Johns Hopkins SAIS MA program. 

How did your experience at the HNC prepare you for the position you have now? I think the HNC gives you a really solid foundation and grounding studying China. In my current position, I am not using that actively, but I hope to transition to another position where I will use my Chinese language skills. In the past, I have had think-tank-type jobs where I used Chinese language and my Chinese expertise daily. It gives you a “BS detector”--there are a lot of people that think they know a lot about China, there’s Chinese propaganda, and people exaggerate about certain things. A lot of people have financial interests in saying certain things about China--both from the CCP’s perspective as well as Western businesses. I think the HNC gives you that “BS detector” and lets you see through whatever spin that people are telling about China.  

What was your journey in becoming an Officer in the US Navy after leaving HNC? 

The process for getting into the Navy, for me at least, was pretty long and arduous. Way back when I was 16, I did summer seminar at the Naval Academy, I thought about joining but decided against it. I spoke to a recruiter my senior year of college but I went to SAIS instead. When I was studying at SAIS in DC, I started to speak with recruiters again. It took about four and a half years to actually get to Officer Candidate School (OCS). I applied to different programs--some things didn’t pan out and other things made it challenging. Eventually, I went to OCS and was commissioned an officer.  

Do you still keep in contact with people that went to the HNC with you? 

Yeah! I’m in Japan now so I don’t know if anyone I knew personally from HNC is currently living in Japan but in DC, yeah. 

What advice would you give to current and future HNC students? 

[To current HNC students] Enjoy your time because you will never have another opportunity probably in your entire life to do what you’re doing now. Work is not as fun as school. (laughs) It’s a harsh world and people expect a lot more of you when you’re working. [To future HNC students] Focus on improving your language as much as possible prior to starting at HNC. You’ll get a lot more out of it that way. In order to boost your language skills in preparation for HNC, try to attend programs that are known for having rigorous language education like Middlebury Language Schools or Yale's ACC Intensive Chinese Language and Culture Program.  

Interview conducted by Brandy Darling, HNC Certificate '20  + SAIS MA '21