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Hamilton alum encourages students to "live their passion"

by Kate Tummarello '11
NEWS EDITOR
April 3, 2011

“Expect greatness, and persevere through the rest,” said Melissa Kong ’08.

Kong, who spoke on Saturday afternoon in the Kirner Johnson Auditorium, focused on the importance of passion and determination when considering a career.

While at Hamilton, Kong studied psychology, wrote for The Spectator and was the founding travel editor for The Continental. After graduating in 2008, she went on to work in consumer marketing for Fortune Magazine and now works as the Associate Brand Manager for Time Inc., Home Entertainment. In addition, she is the editor-in-chief at StudentBranding.com, where she writes a column about successful twenty-somethings who have followed their passion.

According to Kong, the key to being successful is to determine your passion and then pursue it relentlessly. "You have to discover what your passion actually is," she said before quickly assuring her audience, "You already know."

Kong also stressed the concept of having “idea confidence,” something she defined as “having a relentless belief in an idea.”

“You have to be a little bit delusional about your idea,” she said, “because most people are going to tell you no.”