2009 Mentors.pub - Office of International Affairs - Portland State ...

International Student
Mentoring
Program (ISMP)
The International Student and Mentoring Program (ISMP) is designed to provide ongoing assistance
to incoming international students that have been admitted to Portland State University (PSU). The
program’s task is to assist new international students in the transition from their respective countries
to our university. The transition from one country to another is often complicated and frustrating
and this program is designed to smooth that process. The aim of the ISMP is to enhance the
international student experience at Portland State University through personal interaction in an
atmosphere of mutual respect.

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2009 Mentors
1. Adam Holden p. 4
2. Alixandra Elsen p.12
3. Bikram Maharian
4. Chen Liao p.9
5. Dana Sadek p.7
6. Desiree Shrode p.8
7. Devin Thomson
8. Heesoo Kim p.8
9. Hikari Ward p.10
10. Hyo Jin Kim p.5
11. Joanne Han p.7
12. Lexie Woodward p.4
13. Marlene Hadduck p.6
14. Mary Irwin p.6
15. Mehmet Vurkac p.11
16. Micah Park p.6
17. Michalia Kramer p.11
18. Monica Valencia p.5
19. Nafiul Alam Siddique p.6
20. Naoko Horikawa
21. Patric Mok
p.10
22. Po-sheng Hsu (Jimmy) p.9
23. Randika Eramudugoda p.11
24. Soumya Sah p.8
25. Viktoriya Voznyuk p.5
26. Xia Zong p.3
27. Zimei Xu (Mercy) p.12
ICSP Mentors
28. Akbarjan Saidov
29. Atakan Dirik p.8
30. Christian Messerschmitt p.13
31. David (Weibin) Li p.4
32. Hamza K. Sherwani p.13
33. Judith Waswa
34. Marta Barberini p.7
35. Minji Pak p.11
36. Murna Majam p.3
37. Mustafa Mahmood
38. Naing Le Yu
39. Neera Malholtra
p. 3
40. Nicholas Hinsinger p.12
40. Perla Orozco Barajas p.9
41. Phan Ngoc p.14
42. Pierre S. Ngung p.12
43. Gathoni Mburu p.14
43. Sudin S. Maharjan p.13
44. Sue L. Ong p.5
45. Sukhmani Brar p.13
46. Supipi Weersooriya p.4
47. Vikramjeet S. Aulakh p.10
48. (Emily) Yee Lam Tsoi p.9
49. Yuko Amano p.10
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MENTORING PROGRAM (ISMP)

Xia Zong
Mustafa Mahmood
Xia Zong is originally from China. She was an exchange student at PSU for
nine months then decided to start a graduate program, majoring in Financial
Analysis. She loves music, movies and making new friends.
Murna Majam
Murna Majam is from the Federal Republic of Nigeria located in the heart of West
Africa. Since the summer of 2007, Murna has been pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in
International Development and Economics and minoring in French. Coming from a
diverse background, her most favorite hobbies are meeting people from different
cultures, traveling, playing sports, dancing, learning and being active on campus and
sharing about her culture or anything to do with Africa as a continent.
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Have you ever dreamed of making a difference in peoples lives? Mustafa Mahmood
did and decided to fulfill that dream. In August of 2005, Mustafa boarded the plane
en route to the United States to pursue a career in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
This field of surgery has been his dream ever since he witnessed victims of trauma
to the facial area. However, this wasn’t the only time that Mustafa had realized his
dreams.
Mustafa was born on August 24, 1988, in Al-Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. His
whole life, he grew up in a foreign land, a land far away from his true home, Iraq.
But his parents strived to keep the patriotism for his country in his heart. His
whole life revolved around the Iraqi culture where he was exposed to all of Iraq’s dimensions from music, to food, to its
long lasting political instability.
Mustafa is originally from the city of Mosul. Mosul was one of the oldest cities in the world and was home to one of the oldest
civilizations. His belief in this city reflected on his desire to educate people about the true beauty and magic that this city
holds in its roots. Mustafa’s desire and dream to educate the people about the city that was once called “The Pearl of the
Middle East” was fulfilled when he was accepted as a member of the ICSP family.
He knows a lot of Portland State University and about university life. Four years at PSU have made him an expert in different
aspects of education, recreation and much more. He is a member of the ICSP and the vice president of the honor society
Phi Kappa Phi. He will make you feel right at home.

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Lexie Woodward
Supipi Weerasooriya
Supipi is another ICSP member who hails from the beautiful island nation of Sri Lanka. One
thing she loves about the USA is the enormous cultural diversity that is present here. Supipi
loves exploring Portland, and it has been an adventure for her to meet different people every
single day that she has been here. She is proud to be an ICSP member and is looking forward
to sharing her motherland’s culture with everyone who is interested.
Lexie is a senior, majoring in International Studies with a focus on Latin America. In her free time
she likes to speed skate, volunteer for the Not For Sale Campaign, and hang out with her friends
and two younger sisters. She has studied abroad in Melbourne, Australia and Guanajuato, Mexico.
She loves everything international and looks forward to helping new students in whatever way she
can.
Adam Holden
David Li
David Li is 26 years old and is originally from Tianjin, China. He is a sophomore at Portland State,
majoring in pharmacy. David is friendly, responsible and willing to help. He has one year of
mentoring experience for the ISMP with college age students and in addition to that David has
mentored high school students.
Adam spent most of his childhood growing up on a farm about six miles outside the
small northeastern Oregon town of Milton Freewater. He participated in raising
animals, playing sports, and swimming in his family’s backyard pool. He earned a BA in
International Studies from Willamette University, studied abroad in Spain, and went on
a 15-country sojourn around the world. Now Adam is pursuing a MA at Portland
State that focuses on Student Affairs in Higher Education, and he works at Portland
State as a part time Admissions Counselor. His dream is to work in International
Education.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MENTORING PROGRAM (ISMP)

Hyo Jin was born and grew up in Seoul, South Korea. She is currently pursuing her
Bachelor's degree in Applied Linguistics. Hyo Jin thinks that learning new cultures and
languages is really amazing. She likes to take pictures, cook Korean foods, and watch
movies. She considers it honorable to welcome new international students to their new
lives in Portland!
Sue Ling Ong
Hyo Jin Kim
Sue Ling Ong is a senior majoring in Biology. She loves to read and swim.
Her dream is to meet people from all around the world. She is looking
forward to working with people from various countries.
Viktoriya Voznyuk
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Monica Valencia
Monica Valencia has been living in Oregon for the past 11 years. She was born in
Colombia and lived in Costa Rica prior to moving to Oregon. She is enjoying her time at
PSU. Even though she is a junior, she will probably be at PSU for three more years as
she is double majoring in Economics and International Development. She enjoys
traveling, eating Thai food, and making friends from around the world. Monica really
likes learning about other cultures because she likes to see the different perspectives
from which different people see the world.
Viktoriya was born in a small city in Ukraine and moved to the States at the age of
eight. She spent the whole month of June 2009 studying abroad in Paris, France
learning French and the culture. She speaks fluently Russian, Ukrainian and English and
has some basic knowledge of French. Currently, she is a senior at PSU, working
towards a Bachelor's degree in Finance and is expected to graduate in Fall 2009/2010.

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Nafiul Alam Siddique
Micah Park
Micah Park is studying for his Masters of Applied Linguistics in Teaching English to
Speakers of Other Languages. He became interested in Linguistics while he was teaching
English in Taiwan for two years. He enjoys taking photos, studying Chinese, practicing
Tae Kwan Do, hiking, and traveling. His favorite vacation spots are the Perhentian Islands
of Malaysia and Kyoto, Japan.
Nafiul is a graduate student in Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland
State University. He is majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering. His hometown is Dhaka,
Bangladesh. Currently he is living in Beaverton, Oregon. In his free time, he likes to read Egyptian
history, newspapers, or watch movies.
Marlene Hadduck
Marlene Hadduck is both an employee and a graduate student at PSU. She is looking
forward to learning more about what brought international students to PSU. She wants
to assist them through their transition to PSU in any way she can. She also knows the
city quite well and is hoping to explore it with them. She loves to travel!
Mary Irwin
Mary is a pre-medicine and psychology double major interested in public health. She is dedicated to
success and strives for excellence in everything she does. She is open to helping others whenever she
can and this is her second year with the program. In her spare time she enjoys reading, biking, hiking
and picnics.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MENTORING PROGRAM (ISMP)
Marlene with children in her in
Peru

Joanne Han
Marta Barberini
Dana Sadek
Dana is a Palestinian and was born in Kuwait. She has lived in Beaverton for the past
18 years. She is a senior at PSU and hopes to graduate in the Spring 2010 with a
degree in International Studies. After graduation she will attend graduate school to
study International Development. When she is not at school or work, she enjoys
spending time with her family and friends.
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Marta is from Rome, Italy. She lived there until she was 20 and then, she left to go to San
Sebastian, Spain to study for one year. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing and
is currently pursuing Master’s in Communications at PSU. Moving to Portland has been a
challenging experience and an incredible way to open her mind to a variety of new issues.
She has been so lucky to get a scholarship from the International Cultural Service Program of
PSU which provided her with an amazing opportunity to volunteer for the community and
meet other international students. She is passionate about photography and music, and also
loves any outdoor activity. She is always excited to go camping because she can’t go really go
camping in Rome! Her goal for the next year is to pursue a career with Mercy Corps
because she admires their idea of working in developing countries mostly with the help of
local people, which means to change the community through the community itself.
Joanne Han was born just south of San Francisco, grew up just north of Seattle, and is
currently a fourth-year English major at PSU. She spent the 2008-2009 school year
studying in Madrid, and traveled everywhere from Oslo to Krakow while there. Her
favorite cities are Berlin and Stockholm. Besides English, she speaks almost-fluent Spanish,
a bit of Korean, and is currently learning Swedish. She likes novels by Dostoevsky
and Tolstoy, films by Bergman and Truffaut, music by Joy Division and various Scandinavian
bands, and coffee by Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Joanne loves meeting people
from all over the world and looks forward to making friends with foreign students at
PSU the same way she made friends with Spaniards when she was in Madrid. She still
has a terrible case of wanderlust, and wants to visit Copenhagen, Reykjavik, Tokyo,
and Buenos Aires. Someday she'd like to live in Stockholm and Seoul.

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Heesoo Kim
Soumya Sah
Soumya Sah is pursuing an MS in Computer Science from Portland State University with a focus
on Database Systems and Software Engineering. She did her Bachelors in Engineering in
Mumbai, India. While growing up, she got a chance to live in different parts of India and
experience its rich culture and diversity. She came to Portland in Fall 2007 and loves the city.
She likes traveling, meeting new people, and hiking in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Heesoo Kim is from South Korea, and this is her third year at PSU. Her major is
Electrical Engineering, and she loves to take pictures and to travel.
Desiree Shrode
Desiree Shrode graduated with a Bachelors of Arts and Bachelors of Science from Oregon State
University. Before going to OSU, she studied at WOU and studied abroad in Monterrey, Mexico
for an academic year. She has volunteered for ASPIRE and is currently volunteering in the Office of
International Affairs at PSU, working on the 5th Annual Education Abroad Fair. On top of that she
is also working for Youth For Understanding, which is an East Coast non-profit organization which
aids high school students in studying abroad. Desiree will be also starting her Masters of Education
program-PACE, specializing in Student Services where she hopes to work in Admissions and/or in a
Study Abroad department.
Atakan Dirik
Atakan was born and raised in a small Turkish city called Sakarya which is in north western Turkey. After
finishing elementary school, he moved to Istanbul. He lived there for 10 years. He decided to come to Portland
to do his Masters at Portland State University. He has been in Portland for almost three years. He
speaks Turkish and English.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MENTORING PROGRAM (ISMP)

Jimmy Hsu
Emily Tsoi
Jimmy is an international student from Taiwan and has been studying at PSU for two
years now. His majors are Business General Management and Criminal Justice. He
loves interculture practice and the experiences of understanding other cultures
excites. Jimmy works in the Admissions office.
Perla Orozco
Chen Liao
Chen Liao is a transfer student from China. She is a junior majoring in Accounting.
She also works as the Vice President of Chinese Students Association. She's ready
and looking forward to helping new international students!
Perla Carolina was born in Lazaro Cardenas Michoacan, Mexico. Lazaro Cardenas is
port city located in the southern part of the Mexican state of Michoacan. She moved
to Portland five years ago to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. Right now, she
is taking Psychology and Business classes to complete her Bachelor’s degree. When
Perla was 15 years old, she had the chance to travel around the European continent
for two months, and what she experienced made her think of studying abroad. She
speaks Spanish and English and she loves sharing her own culture and cultural experiences
with people. She has been an ICSP member for 3 years already and has had
beautiful experiences participating at different cultural events. She is a person who
likes to teach about her culture and traditions to other people, as well as other topics
like economics and politics. Her personality is very friendly and respectful to other
people’s ideas.
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Yee Lam (Emily) Tsoi in in the Communication Studies major at Portland State
University. She learns a lot from her classes and is happy to share her
knowledge with other students. She loves sports: squash, snow boarding, and
swimming. If you need to know where to exercise, Emily will be happy to tell
you.

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Yuko Amano
Naoko Horikawa
Naoko was born and raised in Sapporo, the Japanese sister city of Portland. She came to PSU as a
transfer student in 2003 and has since then enjoyed living and studying in Portland. She is currently
a graduate student in the M.A. TESOL program in the Applied Linguistics Department.
Since she came to Portland, Naoko has become involved in the campus community through
working with various departments such as Residence Life and the Organization of International
Students. She enjoys learning with and from peers with diverse life experiences and cultural backgrounds.
She is currently working on her MA in TESOL and hopes to become a language teacher
in the future.
Yuko is a Japanese student from the city of Tokyo and is pursuing a degree in Women’s Studies.
She will be senior in Fall 2010. This is her second year as an international student mentor. She
speaks Japanese and English fluently, and has been studying Chinese Mandarin for two years. She is
currently into Zumba dance and enjoying her fourth summer in Portland, OR. She is looking forward
to talking to new international student mentees soon.
Hikari Ward
Vikram Aulakh
Vikram Aulakh is from north east India, he has been in the United States since September 2005.
He is in the process of completing his degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He loves
going to the gym and weight training. He likes to meet new people from different cultures and
knowing about them.
Hikari Ward is her second year in the Masters of Social Work program at PSU. Born in Sao Paulo,
raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the daughter of Japanese parents, Hikari has been living in the US
for the past 10 years, where she completed her undergraduate degree in Sociology and French at the
University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is interested in international
development, immigration and refugee issues, and healthcare. She speaks Portuguese, Spanish,
English, French, and loves to practice any other language any one is willing to teach her. She loves to
dance, try new foods from international countries, and can't wait to meet other students from
countries all over the world!
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MENTORING PROGRAM (ISMP)

Randika Eramudugoda
Michelia Kramer
Minji Pak
Randika is a student from the small yet beautiful island of Sri Lanka. He is an open
minded person who tries out different things in life because he always feel, there is
much out there to be discovered. Thanks to this he has numerous hobbies and
interests now, which range from Anime to graphic designing and so on. Making
friends is also a fun and interesting process he engages in, one in which all get a
chance to experience in their lives as PSU students.
Mehmet "Memo" Vurkaç
Memo has lived in the Pacific Northwest (WA & OR) for 20 years but is originally from Istanbul,
Turkey. Currently, he is a PhD candidate in Computational Ethnomusicology, with an MS in
Electrical Engineering and a BA in Math-Physics. He is also a drummer/percussionist, singer,
electronic musician, composer, bandleader and samba instructor. He is interested in the music,
language, politics and history of Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria,
Zimbabwe, Japan, Central Asia, India, Scandinavia, and the Balkans. His other passions are fuzzy
logic, cognitive psychology and humanism. He has been to Hungary, Austria, Denmark, Japan,
Cyprus and Hawaii, and studied Spanish, Portuguese, German and Japanese, though he gets them
all mixed up now!
Michelia has lived in Portland, Oregon for over 5 years; during the last two years she has
attended Portland State University, where she is studying Anthropology, Women's Studies
and Turkish. She has traveled to over 12% of the countries in the world with plans to explore
100% someday. She is currently interning with Mercy Corps (a local NGO working in
international development around the world) and volunteering with the Immigrant and
Refugee Community Organization. She loves to ride her vintage Vespa scooter, take
photographs, explore, sing, dance, travel, learn and make new friends.
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Minji was born in South Korea. She is a curious person and likes to learn new things. Since
coming of age, she’s traveled all over the world. She is a typical Asian girl who is shy but also
humorous and active. She has a vigorous imagination, and is dexterous so that’s why she’s
been studying graphic design. She transferred to Portland State University after a design
exchange program from Korea because she wanted to study in the wild world. She loves
cooking and enjoys cooking Korean food for her friends. She is trying to do many things to
build herself for the future.

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Zimei (Mercy) Xu
Pierre Stephane Ngung
Alixandra Elsen
Alix is a second year pre-med student. When she is not studying, she likes to run, draw with
sidewalk chalk and ride her bike. She has lived in Portland all her life—it has given her a great
appreciation for the outdoors.
Mercy transferred to PSU from China. She is a junior, and majors in Supply and Logistics
Management. She has been in the USA for one year.
Pierre Stephane Ngung was born July 18th, 1986 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but he is a citizen of the
Democratic Republic of Congo. He spent what he considers to be the twelve best years of his life
in Ethiopia. In 1999, he decided to go to Brussels, Belgium. In July 14th, 2001, after spending two
years in Belgium, Pierre made his first trip the United States to pursue his education.
Pierre is currently senior at Portland State University. He is majoring in Business Management and
he is also going for an International Business Certificate. His educational goals are to increase his
knowledge and his skills so that he can become a successful entrepreneur and a successful leader in
the business field.
Coming from a French background, Pierre Stephane Ngung brings a unique experience into the
ICSP mix, and he is an active student on the Portland State University campus. “It is very important
to build community. Each and every one of us has something unique to offer” says Pierre. In any
event that Pierre participates in, he comes with respect and with an open mind. Pierre is a hard
worker, well organized, dedicated and responsible. No matter what, he always keeps his priorities
straight.
Nicolas Hinsinger
Mercy hiking at Angels Rest Trail
Nicolas is a French student pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in French. Nicolas currently
teaches beginner and intermediate courses at the college level (Washington State
University-Vancouver) and high school (C.S. Lewis Academy-Newberg). He is originally
from the beautiful city of Hyeres Les Palmiers in the south of France, right on the
Mediterranean coast. Nicolas comes from a family with a multicultural background having
family members living in different places of the world such as Brazil, and the USA.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MENTORING PROGRAM (ISMP)

Sudin Maharjan
Christian Messerschmitt
Sukhmani Brar
Sudin is from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. She is doing her
Bachelors in Computer Science at PSU with Art (Sketching/Painting) as
her minor. She likes sketching and painting, swimming, listening and
reading stories, hiking and walking, yoga and the latest is baking. Sudin is
also a coordinator for International Cultural Service Program.
Hamza Sherwani
Christian is an international student from Germany getting his Master’s degree in Systems
Science. He is also a member of the International Cultural Service Cultural Program, and
Student Government. His greatest strengths are teamwork and communication. Christian
has worked on local, national, and international levels. He is reliable, flexible, accepting, and
open minded.
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Sukhmani is from northwestern part of India (Punjab). India's traditions, cultures, festivals,
religions, languages, history and food interest her a lot and she would love to share them
with you! She loves to talk about rural India, which is still away from modern technological
gadgets and this is where she believes you can still find the old Indian customs and traditions.
I look forward to meet all the new international students!
Hamza is an international undergraduate student from Pakistan pursuing a degree in
Accounting and Finance with a Communication Studies minor. He is delighted to be
a part of the international student orientation and is looking forward to meeting and
greeting new people from all around the world.
Designed by: Anna Brozek

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Gathoni Mburu
Ngoc Nhu Phan
Ngoc is from Da Nang city, a beautiful port city in the middle region of Vietnam. She came
to the United State in 2006 to fulfill her dream of becoming an orthodontist. She loves to
find fulfillment in the practice of dentistry and to give others beautiful smiles they are proud
to wear. She has been pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Micro/Molecular Biology and minor
in Chemistry at Portland State University. In her spare time, she likes to read, do yoga,
origami and Sudoku. She is currently interested in learning table tennis. She enjoys spending
time with her family and friends. She likes to meet new people from different countries
and know about them.
Gathoni grew up in Nairobi, Kenya. As a child she was always interested in a career in health and
this is what inspired her to pursue a biochemistry degree. Outside of the academic realm, she
enjoys engaging with students from diverse backgrounds. Currently, she is actively involved in the
Organization of International Students as a cordinator. Gathoni's other interests include camping,
swimming, music, rafting and reading novels. She hopes to conquer her fear of snow boarding and
skiing one of these winters.
Patrick Mok
Patrick Mok is an International Student from Hong Kong. He has been an active student on
campus. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends, watching movies, taking
pictures and eating. Patrick will be graduating in Spring 2010 with Bachelor in Arts in
Accounting, Supply and Logistics.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MENTORING PROGRAM (ISMP)

Bikram Maharian
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Designed by: Anna Brozek