{"id":7297,"date":"2025-09-02T10:43:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/engl\/?p=7297"},"modified":"2025-10-14T10:42:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T17:42:52","slug":"sophie-ulin-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/engl\/2025\/09\/02\/sophie-ulin-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Spotlight: Sophie Ulin, Class of ’21"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Alumni Spotlight: Sophie Ulin, Class of ’21<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n
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\n\n \n Deputy Press Secretary at U.S. Senate\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n \n September 2, 2025<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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\n \n \n Share\n <\/span>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Copy Link<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Facebook<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n \n\n<\/svg>\n\n <\/span>\n X<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n LinkedIn<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Bluesky<\/span>\n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/svg>\n <\/span>\n Email<\/span>\n <\/a>\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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What are you up to right now?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I am currently working as a Deputy Press Secretary in the United States Senate.<\/p>\n

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Could you walk us through your journey from graduating USC to what you\u2019re doing today? What were some key turning points or decisions?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When I graduated USC, we were deep in the midst of COVID. I had wrapped up two virtual internships \u2013 one with the OneCampaign in Michigan where we turned the state blue and one with Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project \u2013 and I knew that I wanted to continue my work in politics. In January 2021, I decided that I was going to move to D.C. and try to work on the Hill. In part because of these opportunities but also because COVID and January 6th made me unsure of what our future was realistically going to look like. All I knew was that I wanted to help make a difference.<\/p>\n

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What sparked your decision to major in Narrative Studies?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I love to tell stories, and when I was in high school I was told I was really good at arguing. Naturally, as most people who are told they\u2019re good at arguing, I decided I wanted to become a lawyer. To me, a lot of the legal field is all about storytelling. When you\u2019re in front of a courtroom or crafting questions for a deposition, there is a narrative that you are trying to push: my client is innocent.<\/p>\n

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How did your Narrative Studies major prepare you for the challenges and opportunities in your current field?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

My narrative studies degree prepared me for political communications because I am constantly thinking about the bigger narrative. My job is to get our story out there; in the press and online. And through my degree, I learned how different mediums can be used to do that effectively.<\/p>\n

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Based on your experiences, what advice would you give to students feeling uncertain about their post-graduation path?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Reach out to the person who has the job you want or is the field you want to be in. Networking and cold emailing can be really daunting and often feel unnatural, but I would not be where I am today without the guidance from not only my friends and mentors but also the strangers I decided to ping on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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\n More Alumni Stories\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n
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\n Alumnus Brandon Som wins Pulitzer Prize for Poetry<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/article>\n
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\n Alumni Spotlight: Jonathan Wong-Hayden, Class of \u201925<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/article>\n
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\n Alumni Spotlight: Lydia Torres, Class of ’23<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/article>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sophie Ulin
\nNarrative Studies
\nClass of ’21
\nField: Politics
\nEnglish alum, Sophie Ulin, shares their experience with USC English and post-grad life<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":925,"featured_media":7299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-undergraduate-alumni"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlumni Spotlight: Sophie Ulin, Class of '21<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"English alum, Lydia Torres, reflects on the USC Undergraduate English experience and life after graduation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/engl\/2025\/09\/02\/sophie-ulin-21\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alumni Spotlight: Sophie Ulin, Class of '21 - 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