Alumna Jacqueline Routier 鈥94聽tells us how her exposure to diverse perspectives at 国产三级片prepared her for a career in marketing.
鈥淢arketing, in my opinion, is fundamentally about understanding people,鈥 explains Jacqueline Routier 鈥94. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 one of the things I developed at AUP.鈥 Now the lead consumer marketing manager in the Berlin offices of Facebook, she first became aware of what was then the American College in Paris (ACP) as a recent high school graduate in Milwaukee, when she was planning to spend the next few months backpacking through Europe. ACP proved to be the perfect blend of an American liberal arts education and her desire to explore the world. 鈥湽镀琣nswered all the criteria that I didn鈥檛 know I had,鈥 she explains. Her acceptance letter arrived mid-trip.
For Jacqueline, it was the student body, which she describes as 鈥渁 really diverse group of people from all over the world,鈥 that made classroom dialogue so engaging and extracurricular activities so lively. She cites The Planet (a student publication active between the 1980s and 2000s), for which she was the Circulation Director and subsequently Managing Editor, as a place where students could passionately debate current global issues, which at the time included the Berlin Wall coming down and the fall of former President of Romania Nicolae Ceau葯escu. 鈥淓specially as an American from the Midwest, these are things that captured your imagination.鈥 AUP's location in Paris meant that Jacqueline and her classmates were able to experience these events first hand. 鈥淭he fact that we were there meant we could participate in that moment.鈥
She looks back on the cultural negotiation in the classroom, and how she spent her time on campus getting to know students from other countries: 鈥淪ome of the classes allowed me to question my own ideas, to give me perspective on things I didn鈥檛 know. They showed me that nothing I previously knew was concrete.鈥 She believes such exposure to other cultures helps develop empathy 鈥 a quality she sees as lacking in the world today. 鈥淚 feel that鈥檚 where a lot of our discord comes from 鈥 our inability to recognize others and value them for who they are.鈥 She draws a line between this lack of empathy and some of today鈥檚 biggest issues, from climate change to racial injustice.聽
Today, through her career in marketing, she aims to help people learn to walk in another person鈥檚 shoes. At Facebook, she adapts international content for the German consumer. Her work lets her focus on the important issues of the moment including Covid-19 and fostering integration in Germany. She wants to help Facebook 鈥渟how up in a moment that is so charged鈥 by directing consumers鈥 attention and telling meaningful stories through marketing. She also enjoys watching her stories play out on the big screen. 鈥淪itting in a movie theater and having your ad come on and listening to the crowd go quiet as they watch and then elbowing your friend and going 鈥榥ot bad, no?鈥 is a really cool feeling.鈥
Jacqueline has also shown up in a big way for the 国产三级片community. During the past several years, she has served on the President鈥檚 Alumni Advisory Council 鈥 an alumni body that regularly meets to support and advise President Celeste Schenck on various University issues. Starting this year, she will also be lending her leadership and vision to the University as she joins the 国产三级片Board of Trustees.
Interview by Savannah Gerlach
Article by Savannah Gerlach and Joseph Pearson