Amanda grew up in Penang drinking lots of kopi peng, and spent her last two years of high school in Singapore. Currently a freshman at Tufts University, Massachusetts, she is a prospective Education Studies major who’s getting very confused about history, race, colonialism, pedagogy and dance. She is deeply grateful to be pursuing an education that is personal, self-directed, real and alive. Besides education, Amanda also really loves coffee, Cookie Monster, poetry, writing and those deeply philosophical 2am conversations (you know what I’m talking about). She hopes to bring good perspective and heart to USAPPS 2015, and cannot wait to get to know everyone better!

Janice discovered US education in 2006 when an anime blogger wrote about the woes of university applications. Several Google searches later, Janice realized that by studying in the US, she could have the best of both worlds; she could remain with her beloved science-stream roots while exploring non-science subjects. Her best memories of being a 2012 facilitator are of getting to know participants after workshops and attending endless mamak sessions. She looks forward to helping participants navigate the application process and seeing them emerge victorious. A Mount Holyoke College ‘14 graduate (Chemistry & English), she currently alternates between working as a copyeditor and studying German.

Syairah is an Economics senior at University of Texas At Austin and she is counting the days to graduation (YAY!) . She loves being outdoors and constantly challenge herself to explore nature through hiking, caving and canyoning. Having attended USAPPS in the past as a participant and later as a facilitator, Syairah believes that it is time for her to contribute back to the workshop that had helped navigate her in applying to the US universities which consequently had brought her to the Lone Star state as a proud Longhorn. Hook ’em!