Yue First in Family to Graduate

Yue First in Family to Graduate

Photo of Jennifer Yue
Jennifer Yue

Yue recently received the Otis A. Singletary Outstanding Senior Award . She has also served as president of the Student Development Council, an officer of Chi Omega Social Sorority, a member of the Communication Honor Society, and a member of UK’s 2004 Homecoming Court.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 9, 2005) -- About 6,272 candidates for degrees, including Franklin County’s Jennifer Yue, were honored at the University of Kentucky’s 138th Commencement May 8 at Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington.

Yue, the daughter of Kenneth and Laura Yue of Frankfort, is the first in her family to graduate from college. Yue’s parents, immigrants from Hong Kong, came to the United States separately in 1970 and 1971. Both arrived in San Francisco with little knowledge of the English language. Eventually both would meet after settling in Cincinnati and taking jobs at the same restaurant. Not too much later, the two would decide to move to Frankfort, Ky., and marry. Yue’s parents opened up China Wok in the capital city and still operate the restaurant 25 years later.

Yue feels lucky to have been raised in a household where her grandfather, Sik Chee Yue, provided cultural influences from her heritage, and where her parents expressed the value of education to their children. Yue and her two sisters, Christina and Elizabeth, were raised in a home where education was emphasized from an early age by her parents, so it was natural for her to go to college after graduating from Franklin County High School. Christina soon will follow in her sister’s footsteps as a UK freshman in the fall.

Yue will graduate with her Bachelor of Science in corporate communication and a minor in business. She decided to pursue studies in the communication field after taking a class with Alan Desantis, associate professor with UK’s Department of Communication in the College of Communications and Information Studies.

“Dr. Desantis’ class and his teaching techniques had such an influence on me that I decided that this is the major I wanted to pursue,” said Yue.

Yue also excelled outside the classroom at UK; she was named one of the university’s five ambassadors her senior year. University student ambassadors serve as official public relations liaisons for UK and travel throughout the state with various UK departments, speaking to students, parents, alumni and friends of the university on a variety of topics including admissions and the transition from high school to college.

“My transition to college was not always easy; I had to learn to handle many changes with few models to follow. This is one reason I have enjoyed working as an ambassador with incoming freshmen, I feel I can help make their transition a bit easier,” Yue said.

With plans of becoming a lawyer, Yue has interned with Fayette County Commonwealth Attorney Ray Larson’s office for two summers. Criminal law has drawn her interest while working in his office, and Yue thinks this could be a field she might pursue. She would also like to utilize her knowledge of a foreign language, the Cantonese dialect of Chinese, in her career. As a native speaker, she has enjoyed opportunities assisting the Lexington Police Department in the past with individuals who spoke only Chinese. Yue is looking forward to entering UK Law School this fall.

“I plan to practice law someday,” Yue said. “And I hope to find a field of law where I can use my language skills in helping others.”

For more information about UK’s Commencement, visit online.