International Voices
EMRE COLAK, BS ’06
Istanbul, Turkey; age 23
Program of study: Graduate student in computer science and engineering
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “The quality of the faculty at UB—especially, for my department, working with the world-famous faculty—is great.”
Last book read for fun: Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder
KUNCHOK YOUDON, MA ’06
Dharamsala, India (headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile and residence of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama); age 30
Program of study: PhD student in political science—was very involved in preparations for the Dalai Lama’s visit in September 2006
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “His Holiness’s visit to UB was the greatest thing—everything was focused on Tibet.”
Last book read for fun: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
WOJCIECH (“WOJTEK”) BIERNAT
Sandomierz, Poland; age 26
Program of study: Master’s student in finance, Department of Economics
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “The best part of my education here is that I have been able to meet so many international students that I would never have had the opportunity to meet back home. There is a huge variety of different cultures. I have so many contacts and so many invitations to visit all over the world.”
Last book read for fun: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
SUDHA BOMMIDI
Hyderabad, India; age 25
Program of study: MBA student
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “A lot of things about being a student at UB make me happy. The world is so much smaller for me today than it was two years ago. I have met so many people from different parts of the world in the course of the MBA program and I’ve made some really good friends, too. I totally enjoy the diversity of the MBA program and this has contributed a lot to my learning.”
Last book read for fun: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
ADRIAN ANG
Singapore; age 29
Program of study: Master’s student, Department of Economics
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: "I would have to say the happiest experience as a UB student is being able to gain a substantial amount of knowledge about other nationalities, cultures and languages both through my job at the Office of International Education and through interactions with friends both in and out of class.”
Last book read for fun: Seeing Tokyo by Kaori Shoji
YOUNG SANG CHO
Seoul, Korea; age 30
Program of study: PhD student in foreign language education
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “Before I came to UB, I thought that ‘being international’ is mostly about learning English and knowing American culture. Studying at UB truly gave me a chance to open my mind and to see that each country has its own unique culture and history, and their uniqueness should not be undervalued in any circumstances. I think that UB is the place that diversity and harmony coexist all the time, so that we can learn what it means to become a global citizen for the 21st century.”
Last book read for fun: The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho
EMRE DAYANC
Ankara, Turkey; age 30
Program of study: PhD student, Immunology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute. His PhD project concerns a specific immune cell type called Natural Killer (NK) cells. “The more I study these cells and their role in killing tumor cells, the more I get fascinated about them.”
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “UB is a crucible of minds of students from different nations. Every time I step in and meet someone, I learn something new and exciting. Roswell Park, on the other hand, taught me how a wide array of people could work in harmony and motivation on one particular matter—tirelessly—our fight on cancer.”
Last books read for fun: Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy Ferris and A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend: For Every Guy Who Wants to Be One/For Every Girl Who Wants to Build One by Felicity Huffman and Patricia Wolff
SUSANA ENG
Tegucigalpa, Honduras; age 20
Program of study: Undergraduate student in pharmacy—will graduate in Fall 2007; PharmD candidate for 2010 graduation—works as an RA and is the sister of a UB freshman civil engineering major
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “All the memorable experiences that I have encountered so far through meeting people from so many different cultures, getting involved with the UB community, learning to play some winter sports, and being able to take advantage of the many resources that UB provides its students. I must say that I do carry UB pride in me.”
Last book read for fun: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
PRZEMYSLAW GARBACZEWSKI
Rzeszow, Poland; age 22
Program of study: Undergraduate working toward BA in economics; BS in business administration, finance, international concentrations; last summer, studied Asian business and economy at UB’s Singapore Institute of Management
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “The most exciting part of being at UB is the feeling of being international, studying in a foreign country in this extremely diverse environment that UB has. I feel that the greatest benefit of being here is that I get exposed to a variety of different ideas and opinions that I wouldn’t normally be exposed to back home. I also think that UB has offered many opportunities to my personal development—I am doing much more that I expected and I find that people here want me to succeed.”
Last book read for fun: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
DEZI LARA
Trinidad and Tobago; age 21
Program of study: Geography major hoping to complete a five-year BA/MA program in international economics and business geography; member of the men’s soccer team
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “UB has made it possible for me to have two of my dreams come true. First and foremost, I get a chance to further my education. Then I have the added satisfaction of playing soccer at a high level.”
Last book read for fun: Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln
CARL LEUNG
Hong Kong; age 22
Program of study: Master’s student in accounting
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “The diversity of UB gives me a lot of opportunities to meet with people from different cultures and countries. For example, I have met my first Turkish friend here. In addition, my on-campus living experience gives me a lot of enjoyable times and I have made some lifelong friends.”
Last book read for fun: Inside Arthur Andersen: Shifting Values, Unexpected Consequences by Susan E. Squires, Cynthia Smith, Lorna McDougall and William R. Yeack
AKI NIIMURA
Morioka, Japan; age 27
Program of study: Master’s student in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), though recently she has become interested in teaching Japanese to American students, and will teach Japanese 101 and 102 at UB from August 2007 to May 2008.
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “I really love UB’s diverse atmosphere and feel happy about being in this environment. I became more conscious about my own culture because many people ask me what Japan is like and I now feel more proud of my culture. For me, UB is the place for my academic achievement and cultural learning as well.”
Last book read for fun: Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
ANDREEA CLAUDIA NOVACEANU
Bucharest, Romania; age 22
Program of study: Undergraduate communication major and member of the women’s tennis team
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “My team and the friends I have made here—also the summertime—would be in the top three.”
Last book read for fun: The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George
CHUN YEE POH
Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia; age 24
Program of study: Graduate student in biotechnology
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “I guess being able to learn to dance makes me happiest being a student at UB. Dancing lets me know a lot of people from different countries with different cultures. I took two dance courses at UB—Social Dance: Tango and Latin American Rhythms and Social Dance: Swing and American Rhythms. Every weekend, I go out dancing—I dance salsa, merengue, swing. I just got myself into the Latin American Student Association—I will be performing for them, too.”
Last book read for fun: Work on research thesis affords little time for pleasure reading, but reads National Geographic for leisure
MOHIT VIRENDRA
New Delhi, India; age 29
Program of study: PhD candidate in computer science and engineering
What makes me happiest about attending UB?: “Being at UB has contributed tremendously to my intellectual growth beyond academics. I have gotten ample opportunities to pursue and involve myself in activities of my liking: teaching and learning instruction, international orientation, lecturing at Buffalo City Honors about experiences back home, etc. To sum it up, I truly feel like a ‘global citizen’ during my stay at UB.”
Last book read for fun: “Unfortunately, I haven’t had much time for leisure reading in the last few years. The last book I read was on a flight to India in 2003, Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992–2002 by Salman Rushdie.”
Student Portraits by Douglas Levere, BA '89