Christina Bui

Gebauer Girl: Christina Bui on her COLA career, work-life balance, and braving grad school

by Jacqueline Magno | Social Media Intern

January 20th, 2023

Most students don’t spend their graduation day binge-watching Korean dramas. But for UT alumnus Christina Bui, the 2020 pandemic left her with little options.

“I’m the first in my family to graduate college, and I just felt so robbed. I didn’t even watch the online graduation ceremony!” Bui recalled with a laugh. “I spent most of my graduation day in my apartment cuddling with my boyfriend and my cat, watching Crash Landing on You. It was a strange time.”

Graduating college with a degree in International Relations and Global Studies was especially meaningful to Bui, who had spent years dedicating her time and talent to UT’s College of Liberal Arts.

“I’ve been working in the Gebauer Building since 2017, and I’m still here,” the alumnus shared. “I began as a mentor for the Foundation Scholars Program; I worked as a front desk peer for the Dean’s Office. I was even offered a job with the PACE program shortly before graduation, so before I even received my diploma, I was already working. I needed to pay my bills before the world ended, you know?”

Now the program coordinator for the Path to Admission Through Co-Enrollment Program (PACE) in the College of Liberal Arts, Bui channels her passion for increased access to higher education, cultivating an environment for growth for every student she works with.

“We see PACE students every single week their entire freshman year of college, and so we really get to know what they’re like and what their goals are. It truly makes me feel like I’m making a difference when I get to form close relationships with them.”

Bui’s dedication to her students has made her one of the youngest recipients of the James W. Vick Award for Academic Advising, which was created in 1992 to recognize individuals who improve students’ overall experience at The University of Texas. Bui attributes her early success to the support of her supervisor Jasmine Rose-Schmitt — the former program coordinator and current assistant director of PACE. 

“This is my first big girl job after graduation, so if not for JR, I would have zero work-life balance,” Bui admitted. “JR has been instrumental in making sure I put myself first, because I can’t do good work unless I’m taking care of myself. I hope to be just as good of a leader as she is someday."

To achieve that solid work-life balance, Bui has a variety of pet and plant babies to keep her company.

“I’m currently a proud cat mom to Milly — she’s a little feral tuxedo cat I stole off the streets. I love her to death. I also enjoy cooking Vietnamese food, reading historical fiction and fantasy books, and taking care of houseplants.”

Aside from her professional and recreational endeavors, Bui is also pursuing her master's degree in Education Leadership and Policy at UT Austin, further enriching her academic and professional experience on The Forty Acres.

“It took me a while to apply to grad school because I had put all my effort into undergrad, and I became really tired,” she reflected. “But after some time, I grew to miss doing readings, going to class, and engaging in discussion with people. I was a curious person who missed being in that learning environment, so I knew it was time to go back to school.”

Bui firmly believes that her Liberal Arts background has proven itself valuable in her graduate-level courses.

“There’s so much work in grad school that involves independent inquiry, critical thinking, and coming to your own conclusions. More tangibly, there’s also a lot of reading, papers, and group discussions, and my Liberal Arts degree definitely prepared me for that. I probably talk more than my professors do!”

Bui shared some candid advice for undergraduate students currently considering a master’s program.

“If possible, give yourself some breathing room. I took a two-year break between my undergrad degree and grad school, and I was initially concerned that I’d somehow forget how to ‘do’ school while I was gone. But that’s just not true. If you’re considering grad school, you’re probably a very ambitious and curious person. So once you jump back into the classroom — however long it’s been — those traits are already innate to you.”

She also encourages students in the College of Liberal Arts to study abroad during their time at UT.

“There’s this assumption that studying abroad is ridiculously expensive, but there are so many ways to make it affordable. There are a ton of scholarships that people aren’t applying to, and if you do an exchange program in a country where the cost of living is lower than Austin, you might actually save money. It’s not everyday you have the opportunity to drop everything and move abroad for a couple of months, so I really advise students to do that before they graduate.”

And when asked about her own make-up graduation in the Fall of 2021, which took place nearly a year after her initial graduation, Bui beamed excitedly.

“You mean the best birthday weekend ever?” she exclaimed. “My make-up graduation was the weekend of my 24th birthday, so I was just hopping from one celebration to the next. And when I finally walked across the stage at the UT Turtle Pond, my coworkers jumped out of the bushes screaming with balloons and banners.” With a laugh, she added, “I was also the last person at that ceremony to walk, and since my parents didn’t see any other graduates, they thought, ‘Oh my gosh! Christina is so loved that the University put on an entire graduation just for her!’ It was very silly and cute, and it just made me feel really appreciated.”

And appreciated she is. To learn more about the PACE Program and the invaluable work Bui does for her students, you can visit their website.