Meet May May!
That’s right, the USAPPS 2014 is back again this summer with an exciting series of workshops coming your way. In the mean time let’s meet, May May, who is overseeing the core committee this year and has been working hard with the core to make this year’s workshops the best yet!
Hi! My name is May May and I am currently a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania. I was raised in Kuala Lumpur, but my family is Sarawakian (taking full ownership of the ‘K’ on my IC). In other words, I have extremely high standards when it comes to the freshness of fish, been on speedboats way too many times than I care for, and know what its like to have goats in my backyard. I love the contrast between East and West Malaysia, and I appreciate the fact that I got to experience the dichotomy growing up.
Some other things I like are music, sunshine and Faber-Castell color pencils. I also have this mild obsession with hair bows. During my school days, I spent far too many conscious hours playing computer games (I was one of those kids who replayed RPGs to the point where I would walk away during cut scenes because I knew all the lines).
What do you do in your free time?
I used to find myself strolling to Center City Philadelphia whenever I had free time, back when I had free time. Philadelphia is honestly a great city, and there is way too much to explore, from food to culture to history. Every time I think I’ve seen it all, a friend of mine would post up a photo of a different area in town, or a really cool restaurant that I have not been to, and that is more than enough for me to justify another trip down. I spend a great deal of time drawing and designing. To me, art is a realm of endless possibilities, and it makes me really happy to be able to turn a blank canvas into something meaningful. Back home, I was also the kid who brought brownies and macarons to group projects because I was constantly baking, and over-baking. Who knows, I might whip something up during the workshops!
Why is USAPPS 2014 special to you?
Because I’m on the core! Jokes. Yes, it means a great deal to me because I am personally involved, but I think that USAPPS 2014 is great because the first cohort of students that attended the very first USAPPS workshops will be graduating from university this year. With this, I think that USAPPS has reached a whole new milestone, and seeing how well all of these seniors turned out is a huge source of inspiration for me. It is my hope that they would be able to bring their stories and experiences to the table and inspire the next batch of Malaysian dreamers. USAPPS 2014 will be bringing changes to the table – I look forward to it!
What are you involved in your college that you never saw yourself doing?
Everyone who has known me in the past would laugh out loud at the fact that I am part of a fraternity – a professional business fraternity, at that!
How do you deal with homesickness?
To be completely honest, I don’t! It’s not to say that I don’t sometimes miss having a bed two times larger than it has to be, my adorable cats, and being able to use completely mangled English and still have people understand what I am saying. Rather, I am just very blessed to be surrounded by very loving people who have become my home away from home. My Bible study group does potlucks all the time so I get loads of home-cooked food, which is great. I am very involved with the Malaysian Student Association on campus, too, and it is a very warm community. We often have joint events with other ASEAN constituent groups (where we basically get together and eat massive amounts – yet often not enough -of Asian food) and it’s been great!
