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TI employee Fern Yoon has always been curious about how things work. As a child, she enjoyed taking apart electronic devices in her family's home in Malaysia and putting them back together. She recently turned this innate curiosity into a passion for helping children through United Way by teaching herself to see the world from their perspective.
"It's interesting to see the children's point of view and talk to them about their dreams and what they would like to do," Yoon said. "By sharing your experiences, you have the ability to give them bigger ideas about what they can do in the future."
Her volunteer journey
After joining TI as a full-time employee four years ago, Fern became a United Way ambassador for one of TI's wafer fabs in Dallas. In this role, she served for two years as a United Way advocate by reaching out to TI employees in her organization, discussing the importance of United Way's role in the local community, and asking them to donate to United Way.
She then began volunteering for Girls Inc., a United Way service provider that affords a safe-haven after school, along with access to tutors, computers and homework help that many girls do not receive at home.
Through her work with Girls Inc., Yoon participated in the TI-sponsored Camp Scimatech summer camp, which exposes the girls to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.
"During the camp, I gave a presentation that discussed the process of using sand to create silicon wafers to make integrated circuits for cell phones," Yoon said. "Since I worked in the fab at that time, I got to bring in actual wafers, and the girls had a lot of fun touching them and learning about how they are made and what they do."
Branching out
Most recently, Yoon has focused her sights on being a big sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS), another United Way service provider.
She became interested in BBBS at TI's 2012 Volunteer Fair. After talking with several people who are part of the program, she signed up and is almost through the match process.
"I really enjoy working with children, especially those who need help," Yoon said. "BBBS is a good place to do so because the program is provided in a controlled environment where they provide resources and a match specialist whom you get to communicate with on a frequent basis."
Having been a McDermott Scholar at the University of Texas at Dallas, Yoon considers herself lucky to have had such solid support as a college student and wants to give back to the community. She believes United Way provides the perfect mix of financial giving and volunteer opportunities.
"Mrs. McDermott is a great proponent of giving back to the community and, instead of a personal thank you, she'd rather we showed her our thanks by giving back," Yoon said. "I want to share my knowledge and experience and believe working with children and being a big sister through United Way is a great way to help."
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