Bridge Student Profiles, 2012-13

Tarik Alireza
Originally from Saudi Arabia, Tarik chose Pitzer because of its deep commitment to social justice. He is considering a major in political studies. Before coming to Claremont, Tarik spent his first two years of high school in New Hampshire and then finished high school in Jordan. Now, in addition to enjoying his studies at Pitzer, Tarik is happy to be living near some of his relatives in Claremont. He loves to read – both for classes and in his free time. When he isn’t reading, Tarik also enjoys bicycling into The Village to enjoy American restaurants or playing soccer with the 5C club soccer team.

Hong Mo An
Hong Mo, known to his friends as Peter, is from Seoul, South Korea via Prescott, Arizona - where he loved the hot weather. Peter is interested in psychology and thinks he may go to the East Coast for graduate school in the future – hopefully, he’ll like the cold weather, too. The American education system has been a welcome change for Peter, as he feels he can be more creative here than in South Korea. For his elective this semester, he is enjoying a pantomime class. Although Peter doesn’t have a car or bike, he manages to get around fairly well. When eating off-campus, Peter enjoys local faire such as In N’ Out Burgers and Japanese food in the Claremont Village.

Lingjie Huang
Lingjie is a transfer student from Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California. She is considering applying to graduate school at Claremont Graduate University when she finishes her undergraduate degree in economics. Her long term aspirations are to run her father’s business when her schooling is complete. Linjie is originally from China but has lived all over the world, namely in Australia and several locations in the United States. In California, Lingjie has lived in Santa Barbara, Orange County and now here in Claremont. She especially enjoys the beautiful beaches and other attractions of Southern California. Lingjie also enjoys spending time at home with her boyfriend and her two puppies, Chin Chin and Zha Zha.

Shihan Huang
After spending three years in Boston, Massachusetts for high school, Shihan is now considering political studies or economics as possible majors at Pitzer. She is also taking as many electives as possible to figure out what her real passions might be career-wise. When she has free time, Shihan is enjoys playing many sports such as rock climbing, lacrosse, volleyball, and badminton and visiting the beach in Santa Monica. Shihan says she likes Claremont, but also misses being on the East Coast because it reminds her of her hometown: Ningbo, China.

Mao Kobayashi
Mao was drawn to Pitzer because it offers the chance to enjoy a true liberal arts education that includes small class sizes and a variety of electives. During high school in Tokyo, Japan, Mao was a member of Dance Club and is happy to have the opportunity to explore other styles of dance as part of her college education. For example, her favorite elective this semester has been a Balinese dance class. Mao is majoring in media studies and hopes to go on to film school in Los Angeles after graduation. She says, overall, she prefers American to Japanese film; although Japanese horror films may trump American ones. Two of her favorite movies are Constantine and In Her Shoes.

Jiwei “Bill” Tang
Bill is originally from Beijing, China and says two main reasons why he chose the Pitzer were for the community atmosphere, and the opportunity to take classes from the five different Claremont Colleges. Bill’s strong, positive memories of living in the U.S. as a child also compelled him to come to the U.S. for college. When he was younger, Bill spent a couple of years living in an embassy in Arlington, Virginia and attending elementary school there because his mother was a former Chinese diplomat to the U.S. In his free time Bill enjoys skiing so for vacation he travels to slopes around the world with his family.

Max Ullvin
Max is currently considering several different majors, including political studies, history, or classics. He comes to Pitzer all the way from Sweden; however, he is no stranger to the United States. As a high school student Max attended summer school in the U.S. many times. He lived briefly in Boston, New York, and California during those summers, but he proclaims Pitzer’s campus has the best food!! Max enjoys studying in Claremont, working part-time with the IT department, and taking advantage of all the Claremont academic community has to offer. After graduation, Max wants to get more international work experience and is thinking of relocating to England or somewhere in Asia to get it.

Jijun Wang
Hailing from southeast China near Shanghai, Jijun has a distinct interest in psychology and sociology and is taking classes in these fields to determine her major. Since moving to southern California for college, Jijun has visited downtown Los Angeles, where she enjoyed Chinatown and Santa Monica very much. Jijun says Chinatown felt very old-fashioned and isn’t a great representation of modern China; but she said the Hong Kong-style food was extremely tasty. For now, Jijun is studying hard, and looking forward to her next visit back home. She enjoys playing American sports when she has her free time, especially playing volleyball off-campus with her friends.

For More Information

The Pitzer Bridge Program
Pitzer College
1050 N. Mills Ave.
Claremont, California 91711

Telephone: 909-621-8308
Fax: 909-621-0518
Email: bridge@pitzer.edu