Embracing Global Experiences and Professional Opportunities
Michelle Sheen ’26, Northwestern University Scholarship Recipient
While writing and editing for her high school newspaper in Orange County, California, Northwestern University student Michelle Sheen ’26 began to see journalism as more than just words on a page. Drawn to the impact of design and how presentation can shape the way stories are consumed, she set out on a path that landed her at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.
Sheen, a Northwestern scholarship recipient, chose to double major in journalism and Asian languages and cultures (ALC) to bridge her professional goals with her identity as a Korean American. “I wanted to immerse myself more in Korean studies, and the classes that I take for ALC have helped me to become more of a critical thinker,” she says. “They’ve definitely been some of my favorite classes.”
Sheen also opted to pursue the Segal Design Certificate, an interdisciplinary program open to undergraduate students across Northwestern that emphasizes design thinking, visual communication, and human-centered problem-solving. “The certificate became a gateway for me to explore ways in which I can implement design into more traditional reporting and journalism,” she says.
Scholarship and grant funding from Northwestern empowered her to pursue a wide range of academic interests and leverage the exceptional partnerships and resources available to students. In May 2026, Northwestern launched the Forever Shine Campaign to raise at least $625 million for scholarships and supplemental programs like those that benefited Sheen. “Over the past four years, I’ve been able to take advantage of so many opportunities that I never considered because I thought I would have to pay out of pocket,” Sheen says.
Among these opportunities was an immersive Bay Area experience where Sheen learned to use layout software and took courses in data journalism, UX design, and visual storytelling for the web—skills she could apply to her reporting while in San Francisco. “I realized there are different ways that I can tell a story to make it more engaging for readers, and that whole process was just really fun,” says Sheen.
As part of her Segal Design Certificate capstone project, she traveled to London with Emily Kadens, the Edna B. and Ednyfed H. Williams Memorial Professor of Law, and two classmates, supported by an undergraduate research grant to conduct archival research at the National Archives. Through this experience, she and her teammates developed a portable magnetic mat designed to flatten centuries-old parchment paper, supporting the preservation and study of historical manuscripts. Sheen also studied abroad in both Vietnam and South Korea, formative experiences that she believes deepened her cultural fluency and helped shape the global perspective she brings to journalism.
On campus, Sheen found community and outlets for creative expression through Northwestern’s Asian Pacific American Coalition student group and Unfolded Zine, a student-run publication that features visual art and writing by Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) students. In 2025, she completed a summer internship with Chicago Public Media made possible by Northwestern’s Summer Internship Grant Program (SIGP)—an initiative supported by the Forever Shine Campaign. She applied her classroom learning as a graphics and interactive intern, producing data visualizations, creating social media content, and contributing to a reporting project examining Chicago’s “third spaces”—the social environments where people choose to gather outside of home and work.
Looking ahead to her graduation this spring, Sheen is applying for jobs and internships in journalism, grateful for the lessons she has learned at Northwestern through her coursework, global experiences, and professional opportunities. “There were so many ways that I was able to take advantage of the funding and the financial aid that I received to experience new things,” says Sheen. “All of these experiences have definitely changed my idea of what I can do and what I can pursue.”
Northwestern launched the Forever Shine Campaign in May 2026 as a University-wide effort to empower students to thrive. The campaign aims to raise funds for scholarships and supplemental programs benefiting undergraduate, graduate, and professional school students.