Marisa Tejavanija (Mei)

Class: 2006
From: Thailand
Academic interests: Political Science

Why Chicago?

Wow, this sounds like college application essay all over again! I first came to the US in the junior year of high school and for the first time in my life, I had to sit in a humanities class where everyone raises their hands and discusses about the reading. I also had to write the very first 4-page paper in my life. I realized how important analytical skill was and how much I had to work to gain that skill. Since Chicago has rigorous seminar-style classes, I was first attracted to that. I knew it would be a big challenge for me and I had to push myself a bit out of my comfort zone, but I knew it would be worth it in the long run. I talk more in class and I write better, but I'm still working on it! This is probably one of the most valuable skills I'm getting at Chicago.

What are classes like?

Since I've just talked about discussion classes, I thought it is a good time for me to talk about my favorite class and professor. My favorite class is "Self, Culture & Society," the social science core requirement. I'm actually really surprised this class turns out to be my favorite because it's a seminar-style class where I have to talk in class and also have to write lots of papers - two things I'm scared of the most. In the first quarter, we started off reading The Wealth of Nation by Adam Smith, and as a comparison, we then turned to The Marx-Engles Reader by Karl Marx. You'd think they could never agree on anything, or at least I thought so because we all know Smith is for capitalism, while Marx is for socialism. After this class, I found out they actually had many agreements. Growing up in the Cold War, I've always had this simple equation in my mind: communism = bad. So, I didn't think I would like Marx, moreover, I'd heard many complaints about the reading. Guess what? He turned out to be my favorite ideologist and I wrote my final paper on him!

What are professors really like?

I think professors play a huge role in making classes interesting, especially "Self, Culture & Society" type of classes. I was fortunate to have an extremely dedicated, enthusiastic, fun and helpful professor for this class. One day I dropped by her office and told her that I find it difficult to talk in class because I'm not used to it and I don't know what to say because I'm scared what I say would not be "important" enough. She taught me how to unpack the reading. She also said that my comment doesn't have to be striking because with other students in class, one thing adds to another and boom, we have a great discussion. She made me feel more and more comfortable to talk in class. I also had great classmates - we grew very close towards the end of the year (since the class is three quarters long). When it's paper time, she gives us three paper topics to choose from - all are very interesting and quite challenging - definitely not typical paper topics. She would come in on the days she doesn't have to teach just to meet with us when we need to talk about the paper, and she is very helpful in the office hours. I could also tell she spends time - lots of time grading each paper, reading each line and gives useful comments. I believe my writing improved because of her. I had fun writing papers too (believe it or not)! I not only learned much from this class but also made friends from it.

What's life like outside of class? Or more like, do I have a life outside of class?

Yes, we do have lives outside of class or the Reg, our library. I'll talk about activities I join first. I'm on Council on University Programming (COUP), Prospective Students Advisory Committee (PSAC) and two mentoring programs, one of which I am a mentee and one of which I am a mentor.

1. COUP
   
   I'm the Summer Breeze co-chair on COUP. COUP organizes large activities for the entire campus (undergraduate and graduate - all are welcome). We have two events per quarter. Summer Breeze is the biggest event and is held in spring before we all go off for a summer break. It's basically a carnival on the Quad! Other events include Blues N' Ribs, Fall Formal, Mardi Gras and the Dance Marathon. I joined COUP at the end of my first year because I wanted to be more involved with campus activities. I had volunteered and participated in COUP activities and had a lot of fun, so I thought why not help organize it and see the backstage part of the event. I was the marketing co-chair in the first year on the board; I basically designed posters and t-shirts with my two other co-chairs. Since I wanted different types of experiences, I thought this year I would plan an event. I have a lot of fun on COUP and have made many close friends and also got a lot of free food (which is never bad for a college student).



2. PSAC
   
   With PSAC, I started off volunteering to talk to prospective students on the Program Days, hosting overnight visits and giving campus tours. When I found out that PSAC created a new board position - the International Student Coordinator, I quickly applied because it was what I thought we needed since my first week at Chicago. As a first-year international student, I couldn't find anyone who could help me answer international student questions, so I thought this was a great opportunity.

Brought to you by the Prospective Students Advisory Committee
Office of College Admissions · The University of Chicago · 1101 E 58th Street · Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773-702-8650 · Fax: 773-702-4199
All pages on this site C 2006, The University of Chicago
Comment on this site