Madigan Hogan '20

Alumni Office (AO): Can you introduce yourself, including your name and graduation year from Breck?

Madigan Hogan (MH): My name is Madigan Hogan. I graduated from Breck in 2020 and attended Indiana University Bloomington as an undergraduate from 2020 to 2024. I graduated with two degrees, a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Languages and Cultures, with a focus on Chinese language, and a Bachelor of Science in International Studies and a minor in Intelligence Studies. I also completed Indiana University's Chinese Flagship Program, which is a national language program funded by the Department of Defense and the Department of Education to support learning languages that are critical to national security. As a part of my studies, I spent my senior year in Taiwan to complete the Chinese Flagship Capstone Program, which included language study and a semester-long internship at a nonprofit that partnered with small local agencies to implement more environmentally and socially responsible policies. After graduation, I moved to Washington, D.C. and started as a research analyst for an open-source intelligence research company called Janes doing geoeconomic threat intelligence research based in Russia and China. 

AO: That's incredible, Madigan. Can you share why you pursued learning Mandarin after Breck?

MH: Of course! I often get asked the questions, “Why Chinese?” And I usually respond by explaining how I entered Breck in a Chinese year and rolled into the program. Although Breck classes were academically challenging and rigorous, Chinese class was one of the only classes I couldn’t do great in, even when I felt like I was trying my hardest! Chinese was a subject that I knew I wasn’t fluent in, which meant I really had to work hard to get to where I wanted to be. 

When I graduated from high school, I didn't really know exactly what I wanted to do in life or what I wanted to do as a career. The only thing that I knew about myself was that I wanted to know more about the world and how people and culture influences our everyday lives. That's why I chose to study international studies and continued to pursue Chinese.

I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to learn Mandarin so early on at Breck. It’s an opportunity not many people get, and it has changed my future for the better, giving me more economic opportunity to go to college and an upward trajectory for opportunities to study abroad and meet new people. 

AO: How have you grown in your knowledge of Chinese culture including Taiwanese culture?

MH: My knowledge of Chinese and Taiwanese culture has definitely expanded since living in Taiwan. Even when I graduated from Breck and started going to Indiana University, I wasn't that familiar with Taiwan. I believe all, of my Breck teachers were from mainland China or taught mainland China dialect. When I started Chinese classes at Indiana University, that dynamic changed and the majority of my teachers and tutors were from Taiwan. 

For me, this meant a huge learning curve with accents, dialect shift, and even the way the characters look. Even the difference between Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese culture has been something that I've come to learn a lot about in recent years, and that understanding is important to have given current times and current political climate. I've been so thankful to know many people knowledgeable on the topics of geopolitical relationships between Taiwan and Mainland China.

While in Taiwan, I was very fortunate because my boss for my internship was personally certified as a tour guide for Taiwan. He was the world's friendliest guy and so talkative. He'd plan trips for us, and he took me to unbelievable cultural events. We went to Taiwan's Lantern Festival for their southern cities 200 year anniversary and attended Taiwan’s largest temple on Tomb Sweeping Day. The program I attended in Taiwan and the people I met through it opened up so many opportunities for me to have cultural appreciation and knowledge of the place. I felt really really lucky to be immersed and exposed to all those great things, and of course the food was amazing. 

AO: What are some key takeaways from your language learning and study abroad trip?

MH: That it is okay to not be perfect and making mistakes is normal. When you learn a language, you have to be okay with messing up all the time, continuously. You will never ever be 100 percent right. Learning a language like Chinese teaches you to be humble and open to advice and criticism and people correcting you. If you don’t feel like you're struggling or you feel like it's hard, you’re just taking risks and trying your best! Hard work and determination will get you to the point where you are proud of yourself. Also, don’t underestimate how far you’ve come. Sometimes when you learn Chinese, you forget how extremely hard the language is to learn. Take a moment to realize how impressive you are and that even understanding one string of words is more than what most people! 

AO: What do you miss about living in Taipei from your study abroad time?

MH: I think the thing I miss the most is probably the accessibility of everything. Taiwan is pretty small, so it's accessible to travel around to visit new places. It's accessible to go on vacation. It's accessible to eat. Their food culture is awesome, and there are always fresh options that are inexpensive. Most people cook using locally sourced ingredients, which I think is great! 

AO: How did you approach intercultural learning and communications with people?

MH: The biggest key, which is a very simple one, is to listen and be present when people are speaking with you. Ask questions that will take the conversation deeper, and showing curiosity and genuine care for learning someone else's culture or background or story will help you be to have more genuine and meaningful conversations.

AO: What is next in Washington DC?

MH: I'm going to be working my first job for a company called Janes. James is an open source intelligence company and I will be a research analyst for their geoeconomic threat intelligence team. This means we use public information or public open-source knowledge or documents to draw conclusions and give advice to people regarding economics and policy and how investments and monetary transactions affect policy and politics and the world.