Past Reach Ambassadors

Hometown: Safwa, Saudi Arabia
Major: Environmental Science, Undergraduate

Hi! My name is Duraid Abukhamseen. I speak Arabic and English. I love watching sports, learning about new cultures, and trying new things. I really hope to share a piece of my culture with the UW community and learn more about the cultures around me.

Hometown: Ondo State, Nigeria (Lived in Lagos State)
Major: English (Composition and Rhetoric), Ph.D. Candidate

Bawo ni? Yinka is my name and I speak Yoruba, English and Pidgin-English. I love sharing about Yoruba Traditional Clothing and inviting others to participate by trying them on. I also love to talk about our native foods and the Yoruba traditional wedding. I look forward to a cultural exchange that projects the richness of the Yoruba culture and gives a peek into the rich and diverse cultures in Nigeria. I am also fascinated about experiencing other cultures thriving in UW-Madison.

Hometown: Malaysia
Major: Chemical Engineering

Apa khabar? My name is Chia and I speak Malay, Chinese, English, Teochew, and Hokkien. I am immensely grateful for being able to live in a beautiful, diverse, and multicultural country called Malaysia. I love sharing Malaysian food with my friends in America and sometimes invite them over to make traditional desserts together. We make ‘ondeh-ondeh’ which is a traditional dessert made with pandan (screwpine leaf) infused dough and filled with Gula Melaka or palm sugar. I look forward to sharing the uniqueness of Malaysia with more people at UW-Madison.

Hometown: Imo, Nigeria (born and bred in Lagos, Nigeria)
Major: Botany, Graduate

Hello! My name is Joan (Jo!!), I speak English, Pidgin English, Igbo, and Yoruba (spent all my life in western Nigeria, haha). My interests include Traveling, watching crime investigation documentaries, and anime, and having good conversations. I hope to share my experience as a Nigerian student here in Madison and connect with other international students! I hope for people to see and learn about my country directly through “my eyes” and not from what they might have heard or read.

Hometown: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Major: Computer Science, Undergraduate

Hi! I am Fara, and I speak Malay, English, and basic Mandarin. I can also read Arabic and Korean. I am interested in performing arts, traveling, and languages. You can probably see me singing and/or dancing on stage during cultural events organized by the Malaysian Students Association of UW-Madison! As a REACH ambassador, I am eager to share the rich culture of Malaysia with the local Madison community on top of experiencing other cultures as well.

Hometown: Concepción, Chile
Major: Geoscience, Graduate

Hi, I’m Francisca and I speak Spanish and English. I love to travel and my main interests are glaciers and volcanoes. Knowledge of the way the universe is shaped and the way our planet contains so many mysteries is something that has always interested me. As a Reach ambassador, I would like to talk about Chile’s landscape and general culture. I expect to connect with people from different cultures and backgrounds.

Hometown: Barranquilla, Colombia

Major: Spanish Linguistics, graduate

¡Hola! My name is Estefanía, and I speak Spanish, English, French and basic German. I love learning languages, eating, and dancing! The only food I do not like is spicy, but I can try everything else. I would like to learn more about other cultures, traditions, and food. I am looking forward to sharing many interesting aspects of my country and culture such as music, dancing, and food with the UW-Madison and Madison community, so everybody knows a little bit more about Colombia.

Hometown: Punjab, India
Major: Business Administration, MBA in Supply Chain Management

Namaste! My name is Dipika, and I speak Hindi, Punjabi, and English. I love to travel and explore various cultures, cuisines, and people to find amusing similarities across the globe between cultures, beliefs, and people’s emotions.  As an international student at UW-Madison, I can’t wait to share my culture with other students and meet people from all around the world! I’m down to meet up, talk, try out new things, and most importantly, learn what I don’t know. I am also very passionate about women in technology and STEM areas, so feel free to reach out if that is something you would like to talk about.

Hometown: Kuala Lampur, Malaysia
Major: Nutrition and Dietetics, Undergraduate

Hi! My name is Swee Ying, I am able to speak fluently in Chinese, English and Malay (which is our national language), I do speak basic German as well. My passions are exploring new places and their cultures. I also enjoy cooking during my leisure time. I would love to be able to meet new people from different cultural backgrounds and learn new perspectives from others, while sharing Malaysian culture to the community and UW-Madison.

Hometown: Mumbai, India
Major: Computer Sciences, Statistics, Undergraduate

Hi! I’m Arjun from India, and I speak English, Hindi, Tamil, and Marathi. I love to learn about different cultures mainly since I have travelled with my parents to over 30 countries. My aim is to efficiently apply my skills in Computer Science to improve ease of technology use in third world countries. I would love to present anything relating to technology and culture. I wanted to become an International Reach Ambassador so that I could share my culture with the UW-Madison community and network with ambassadors from other countries. I look forward to my term!

Hometown: Hyderabad, India
Major: Psychology, Undergraduate

Namaste! My name is Hiya and I speak Hindi, English, Telugu, Marwadi and a little bit of Tamil. My interests include Traditional Dance and Music, Food, Unknown cultural traditions and Mythology. I would love to learn about different cultures and also share knowledge about the culture I belong to.

Hometown: Kenema, Sierra Leone
Major: Educational Policy Studies, Graduate

Hi! My name is Aruna, and I speak Mende, Krio and English. My interests are books, cultural traditions, soccer, nature and landscapes. I am eager to meet people from diverse cultural settings within the UW and Madison communities and share about my country, culture and experiences.

Hometown: Pune, India
Major: Computer Science, Undergraduate

Namaskar! I am Sourabh Kenjale and I speak Marathi, Hindi, and English. I am very passionate and a huge fan of Indian Classical Music and human relations mixed with technology. I am eager to bring Indian culture to all Madisonians. I’m down to meet up, talk, try out new things, and most importantly, learn what I don’t know.

Hometown:  Singapore
Major:  Computer Science, Undergraduate

Hi! My name is Ankit and I speak English and Hindi. My interests include sports like basketball and badminton, discovering new music of (almost) any genre, and meeting new people and learning about their cultures. I would love to share about Singapore’s variety of food, languages, and traditions. I’m excited to meet people from all walks of life and share about my hometown and my experience as an international student.

Hometown: Bangkok, Thailand
Major: Computer Engineering, Undergraduate

Swasdee krub, I am Thitipong! You can call me “Tap.” I speak Thai and English. My interests include food, language, and performing arts. I would like to create a strong connection between international students and local students. At International Reach, I hope I can get a deeper understanding of other cultures and diversity by meeting people with diverse backgrounds and conducting an intercultural dialogue.

Hometown: Zhengzhou, China
Major: Material Science & Engineering, Doctoral

大家好!Hello everyone! My name is Nuohao and I speak Chinese and English. I’m very glad to meet friends from all over the world and introduce our culture and interesting things to everyone. I love playing the piano and enjoy lots of sports like basketball, table tennis, and badminton, especially playing with new friends. I believe through the cultural exchange we can get a view that how big the world is, and by standing together, we’ll feel how close the distance between each other could be.

Hometown: Telangana, India
Major: Fine Arts- 4D, Graduate

Namaste! My name is Praveen Maripelly, and I speak Telugu, Hindi, English, basic Gujarati and German. My interests include community well being, arts, cultures and traditions, social engagement and languages. I would like to connect with communities from different cultures and backgrounds, and share aspects of my culture to UW Madison and the community.

Hometown:Vinh Phuc, Vietnam
Major: Marketing, Undergraduate

Xin chao! My name is Lam Nguyen. Vietnamese and English are the two languages I speak. I have vested interest in food – particularly food history, Vietnamese traditions and their roots. In my free time, I like watching anime and reading nonfiction. As a Reach Ambassador, I would like to help others learn about Vietnam and Vietnamese culture, while also educate myself on intercultural issues.

Hometown: Benin City, Nigeria
Major: Plant Pathology, Doctoral

How far na! My name is Maxwell and I speak English and Nigerian pidgin fluently. I understand Ika, Igbo, basic Yoruba and little Hausa (kadan kadan). I am interested in sharing (to young people and adults) about Nigerian culture, environments, foods, and lifestyles. With a focus on correcting stereotypes that people might subconsciously hold. I hope to use this opportunity to integrate with different American communities and share first-hand experiences in Nigeria that will offer a correct representation of the realities.

Hometown: Busan, South Korea
Major: Political Science, undergraduate

안녕하세요! My name is Jinwan, and I speak Korean and English. My interests include international politics, watching movies, and multiple sports. As a Reach ambassador, I hope to share socioeconomic and cultural aspects of Korea and build a more inclusive environment for international students on the UW campus.

Hometown: Mumbai, India
Major: Biomedical Engineering, doctoral

Hi, I’m Veda and I speak English, Marathi, Hindi, and a little French. I am passionate about travel, food, languages, reading, and textiles/fashion. I hope to connect with people and facilitate a dialogue regarding cultural differences and how we can be more understanding of each other.

Hometown: Taipei, Taiwan
Major: Finance, Economics, Undergraduate

Hey guys! My name is Eric, and I speak Mandarin and English. I love talking about food, sports, traveling, and other fun stuff about Taiwan. I am excited to connect with people from different backgrounds and share my experience as an international badger.

Hometown: Bandung, Indonesia
Major: Food Science, M.S.
Hai! Apa kabar? (that’s how are you in Bahasa Indonesia). My name is Vanessa Soendjaja and I am from Indonesia. I speak Bahasa Indonesia, English, and basic Mandarin. I am also trying to learn Korean (so I can watch my favorite Korean dramas without subtitles). I am so thankful to have grown up in such a diverse and beautiful country with SOOO much delicious food and I can’t wait to share my experience with everyone at UW-Madison. I am also looking forward to learning more about other countries and cultures from people I will meet through REACH.

Hometown: Singapore
Major: Biomedical Engineering, Doctoral

Hallo! Heyyyy! Namaste! My name is Nishant, and I speak English, Hindi, and enough Chinese to make folks laugh. My interests include the often unspoken consensus of societal values and individual values as well as the role of government in society. I would like to share my view of society in different cultures and my time in the US. I want to meet new people and appreciate their views.

Hometown: Kumamoto, Japan
Major: Rehabilitation counseling, Graduate