Macalester
The Mentor Program sponsored by Macalester International Student Programs selects returning U.S. and international students to serve as mentors to incoming international students and domestic Ametrica participants. Students will meet their mentors during pre-orientation and will consult with them regularly throughout the semester. Mentors provide a student’s perspective on both academic and personal life at Macalester. Their job is to help international students feel comfortable at Macalester and answer their questions about policies and procedures related to life in the residence halls, campus facilities, registration and academic procedures, as well as questions about U.S. culture and off-campus opportunities in the Twin Cities Metro community.
Where have the ISP mentors been all summer? Check out this video to find out!
Rohit Bagda (Class of 2020) is a Junior from Kolkata, India. He is a Computer Science and Applied Math & Stats major. His 1st Language is Java but he speaks English and Hindi as well. He enjoys having late night, perspective shifting, impromptu conversations about almost anything. On campus, Rohit is the co-captain of Macalester Club Tennis. In his free time, he enjoys playing Pool, Table Tennis and listening to Folk Rock. He specializes in putting together a Grilled Cheese at Cafe Mac.
Christina Cai (Class of 2020) is a junior from Beijing, China. She is an Economics and Applied Math double major. In her free time, Christina enjoys cooking soups, playing the piano and watching squirrels. The Mississippi river down Grand Avenue is her favorite spot where she usually runs to and reflects on her recent life. Christina is super excited to be a returning mentor and can’t wait to meet all the new students coming to Mac!
Pietro Tardelli Canedo, (class of 2019) is originally from São Paulo, Brazil and spent his last two years of high school in Costa Rica. He is a senior majoring in Biology with a minor in Data Science, and is interested in studying the evolution of invertebrate animals. He thoroughly enjoys natural history museums, playing the guitar, and contemporary art. At Mac, Pietro can be found doing research at the Boyer Lab, working at ISP or procrastinating in the sun. He is looking forward to ending his last year as part of the ISP student staff on a good note.
Arianna Dart (Class of 2019) is a senior from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is majoring in Neuroscience and is on the pre-med track. She loves learning new words and phrases in other languages- her favorite thing to learn how to say is “ice cream”. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, organizing things, and lying in the grass. She is so excited to be a mentor for the second time and can’t wait to welcome in a new first year class!
Kamelia (Kami) Drenkova (Class of 2020) is a junior and is originally from Sofia, Bulgaria. She plans on majoring in Biology with a Community and Global Health Concentration. This summer she is doing research with the Department of Medicine at New York University. During her free time, she likes to hike (her favorite hiking place is the Seven Rila Lakes), cook and bake, and spend time with her friends. She is super excited to be an ISP mentor and meet new people from all over the world. Kami started working for ISP in the spring of 2017.
Purichaya (Por) Eiamkanchanalai (Class of 2021) is a sophomore from Bangkok, Thailand. She is planning on double majoring in Asian Studies and Political Science with a minor in Japanese. Por is primarily involved in HOME magazine, a magazine created for students with an international background to express themselves. In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching series, and listening to music. Furthermore, Por enjoys learning new languages and exploring new cultures. That’s why she’s very excited to be a mentor this year!
Julia Fritz-Endres (Class of 2019) grew up in a State Park in Carlisle, Massachusetts. She’s majoring in Environmental Studies with a minor in Creative Writing. She love to travel, and spent last semester studying at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. At Macalester, she spends most of her time exploring the Twin City’s music scene and throwing a frisbee on Old Main. In the winter she skis but will hibernate for a few chilly weeks in January. She’s involved in several groups on campus, including the Mac Weekly, the “Chanter” literary magazine, and the Macalester Orchestra. This is her third year as an ISP mentor and fourth year as an ISP office worker. She can’t wait to meet all the new students this fall!
Stacy Gerondelis (Class of 2019) is a senior from Atlanta, Georgia and lived in Singapore until she was 4. She is double majoring in International Studies and Political Science with a German minor and a Human Rights & Humanitarianism concentration. At Mac, Stacy is involved in ISP, student government and Asian Pacific Islander Americans in Coalition (APIAC). In her spare time, she enjoys learning languages, listening to music and reading. She spent Spring 2018 abroad in Berlin, Germany and Vienna, Austria (plus travel around Europe) and is looking forward to meeting all the incoming students!
Gary Huang (Class of 2020) is a junior originally from Los Angeles, California. He moved to Beijing, China in 2006 and lived there for ten years. He is majoring in Computer Science and Biology. He enjoys singing (in choirs), Ultimate Frisbee, cooking, baking and board games. He’s excited to be a mentor this year and meet all the new students coming to Mac.
Haruhiko Kuramochi (Class of 2019) is a senior from Palo Alto, California. He is a chemistry major and wants to pursue more studies in mathematics. When he’s not in Olin Rice, he spends his time listening to vinyl, reading the daily news, and catching up on sleep. At Mac, he’s been involved with Quizbowl, Mac Yarn, and Asian-Pacific Awareness (APA) Month. He’s excited for his second chance to mentor the newest faces at Macalester and is looking forward to meeting them!
Yaqing (Grace) Lan (Class of 2019) is a senior who has lived in many different areas in China. She is double majoring in International Studies and Japanese, with a minor in Political Science. At Mac, she is involved in ISP and various dancing activities such as Macalester dance concert. During her free time, she loves dancing, watching TV series and anime, and looking for good restaurants and recipes. She is very excited to start boxing this summer as well as to meet the new class in the fall!
Tianrui Liu (Class of 2021) is a sophomore from Beijing, China. She is an Economics and Biology double major and is on the pre-Law track. She enjoys keeping herself busy. But when she has spare time, she likes walking to the Mississippi River and eating ice cream. Her favorite extra-curricular at Mac is Mock Trial. She also enjoys her first-year program Lives of Commitment, where she made a lot of chill friends. She’s looking forward to meeting all upcoming students!
Meng (Stella) Luo
(Class of 2020) is a junior from Beijing, China. She is born and raised in Beijing. She majors in Chemistry, with an emphasis in Biochem. She also minors in music, and her instrument is contemporary voice. It’s really easy to see Stella in Olin-Rice or J-wall building during school time. At Mac, she is part of X-ertion dance team and Macalester Chorale. Stella loves to travel during vacations and learning new languages/cultures. She is very excited to be a returning mentor and meet new people from all over the world!
Isabella (Bella) Molano (Class of 2021) is an American-Brazilian sophomore who moved to Minnesota from Curitiba, Brazil. Originally from the DC area, Bella has also lived in Florida and Mexico and loves the ocean. She speaks three languages and would love to learn more. She plans on majoring in Anthropology with a Human Rights concentration and a Psychology minor. Some of her hobbies include reading, journaling, and practicing meditation and yoga. She also enjoys volunteering off campus and getting to know the twin cities, and is especially passionate about children and animals. In her free time, you can probably find her watching true crime documentaries and TV shows. She is so so excited to meet everyone in the fall!
Rina Morisawa (Class of 2020) is from Tokyo, Japan. She studies biology. She also plays the cello in the Macalester orchestra. In her free time, she doodles or cooks Japanese food with friends.
Likhwa Ndlovu (Class of 2021) was born in Harare and raised in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. He has lived in South Africa, Kenya and Swaziland, where he spent his last two years at UWC Southern Africa. He enjoys cheap gourmet food, singing, composing music and playing rugby. He plans to double major in Geology and Geography with a concentration in Urban studies. Likhwa started working at ISP in the spring of 2018 and is excited to meet everyone in the fall.
Anh Nguyen (Class of 2021) is a rising sophomore from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She is planning on double majoring in Psychology and Computer Science. She loves traveling, food, and jazzy music. At Mac, she is the co-chair of the Ping Pong club and a member of the Vietnamese Cultural Organization. In her free time, she binge-watches series like Breaking Bad and Narcos, or explores food places around the Twin Cities. She gets really excited when she sees dogs. She is really looking forward to meeting you all!
Kar Yan Ong (Class of 2020) is a junior from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is an Applied Math and Economics double major. He loves playing badminton, Star Wars and gaming. During his free time, he enjoys trying new restaurants and watching late night talk shows.
Emma Page (class of 2021) is from University Place, Washington. Even though she loves the west coast, Minnesota is finally starting to feel like home. At Mac, she works for ISP and the History Department and is co-captain of the club tennis team. She plans to major in International Studies, with an emphasis in history and a minor in Japanese. The things she loves most are learning new languages, meeting new people, and laughing a lot. She’s very excited about being a mentor and can’t wait to meet her mentees!
Aman Rai (Class of 2019) was born and raised in Ghaziabad, India. He is double majoring in Economics and Applied Mathematics & Statistics. He spent his last two years of high school at UWC Mahindra College in Pune, India. He loves playing basketball, table tennis and also plays on the Macalester Cricket Club Team. Aman Started to work for ISP as a Program Assistant in Spring 2016 and this will be his 3rd time mentoring incoming students.
Sammi Redder (Class of 2019) a senior from Portland, Oregon. She is majoring in Chemistry and Chinese. Last spring she studied abroad in Hangzhou, China. Sammi enjoys traveling and all things related to food. At Mac, she is a leader of Chemistea and a member of Chinese culture club. She is very excited about meeting the new people coming to Mac this year!
Temusa (Tusa) Rukundo (Class of 2019) is a senior from eSwatini, formerly Swaziland. She is also half Rwandan, but has lived her whole life in eSwatini. She is majoring in Economics and Political Science, with an International Development concentration. At Mac, she is involved in Macalester Afrika!, and has spent most semesters interning with minority and development focused organisations, which she is very passionate about. In her spare time, she binges on series, eats lots of chocolate and spends time with friends and family. She’s planned on being an ISP mentor in her senior year since her first year and is absolutely excited!
Ruotong Wang (Class of 2019) is from Beijing, China. She likes her home city because of the infinite possibilities that could feed her curiosity. At Mac, she is involved with ISP, CCC and spontaneous events on campus. She majors in Sociology and Mathematics, but she also likes Philosophy. In her free time, she likes taking pictures of the cities, talking to people, learning their perspectives and people watching although everyone says it’s a creepy hobby. Her happiness comes from eating, more precisely, snacking, but only recently did she start cooking. She is not good at cooking but is willing to learn! Hope she can cook for her mentees by the time PO4IS starts!
Elliot Wareham (class of 2021) is a sophomore from Hudson, Wisconsin. He intends on majoring in both geography and economics. During his first year at Macalester, he participated in Macalester College Student Government, had a radio show on WMCN, and volunteered off-campus–all of which he plans to continue his next year at Mac. Elliot has a wide variety of interests, but particularly enjoys anything creative including music, fashion, and literature.
Jiawen (Xavier) Xin (Class of 2020) is a Junior from China. He currently majors in Computer Science and English Literature. He loves eating which is apparent in this picture (note the filter, Xavier eventually wishes to become one with food). Beyond chomping and gulping, Xavier also loves films from all around the world.
Ling Ma (Class of 2021) is a sophomore from Beijing, China. She is majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Philosophy. She is quite familiar with about everything in the Library, as she worked at the front desk of the library and will be working in the Idea lab in the fall. In her free time, she works out when she is feeling great or down or just trying to be healthy. Ling is super excited to join ISP as her first time and to meet all the freshmen soon!
Vanisa (Nita) Senesathith (Class of 2021) is from Vientiane, Laos. She went to UWCSEA in Singapore for the last two years of high school. She is a rising sophomore with psychology major and she is still exploring. She is part of meditation group at Mac. She likes kickboxing, zumba, social dancing (aka informal ballroom dancing), and watching soccer. She will serve on Program Board 2018-2019. She is super excited to meet you all.