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Features
October 10.1996
Unique freshman has led exciting hfe
iif Donna Sammander
For those who have not
„etnew student Cynthia Tan
(though you will recognize her
l,y sight), she is Malaysian, a
petite and energetic lady with
long, black hair that swings
about her heart-shaped face. If
you are up early enough, you
will see her awake and about,
doing her morning jog. Or you
might even recognize her strain
ing behind one of Granville’s
tliree shopping carts, giving
someone a ride.
Being at St. Andrews is
notCynthia’s fu-st experience as
an international student. She
has studied in a Christian col
lege in Tasmania, Australia and
kas also taken language courses
at Yunan University, Yunan
Province, China. Throughout
her varied experience, Cynthia
has gathered a lot of know how
on how to deal with the prob
lems and anxieties that usually
plague sUjdents who are new to
an area and environment. As a
new sUident, let alone an inter
national one, it is easy to walk
about in a haze of unfamiliar
ity, putting off tasks, such as
currency change, that need to be
done, just because everything
seems so overwhelming. Upon
h', '..nva! here. Cvnthia headed
straight tor the shopping center
iliehad glimpsed from her ride
into Laurinburg in order to buy
some necessities.
When asked how she has
learned to cope with the
strangeness of living in a new
environment, Cynthia an
swered; “The survival kit I al
ways take along whenever I go
overseas is my sense of humor
and three important criteria:
1.Flexibility 2. Adaptability 3.
Teachability. These words
seem profound, but it has
helped me in many different
situations that I have encoun
tered, even much more in over
coming communication prob
lems and custom differences.”
Often times, one finds
it so easy to misunderstand for
eign gestures and mannerisms
and mistake them for abrupt
ness or slowness. An interna
tional student has a daunting
task of breaking through these
misconceptions or stereotypes
m order to make friends. About
overcoming miscommunication
and differences in custom,
Cynthia says:
“A sense of humor is my
friend. It is important to be able
to laugh with people and be
open to being corrected. If and
when I don’t understand, I
asked them to either explain or
repeat what they mean.
To overcome custom dif-
rence'.. the first lesson is to be
„n observer of how things are
done in another culture and
what are the customs; do not
compare one culture to another.
Be flexible when things are not
done the way you are used to.
It is an advantage to leam the
language, too, it reaches out to
the heart of people .”
Cynthia’s ability to
“reach” out to people in her
very warm, personal way is
something very striking about
her. One could attribute this
quality to her interest and ma
jor in psychology, except that
there is nothing clinical or ab
stract in her conversation. She
speaks very directly of her ex
periences. She has done part
time volunteer work with Ma
laysian Care, a nonprofit orga
nization in Kuala Lampur,
which has centers for the handi
capped, for drug rehab, and for
male and female orphanages.
Cynthia has volunteered inter
nationally with Interserve, an
American Relief Agency, for
two years among Afghan refu
gees in Pakistan and India as a
hygiene and solar oven instruc
tor in the refiigee camps. “To
live and work in a foreign land
has not been easy, especially in
a war torn environment...the
rewarding part was when I got
to see the wounded get attended
to, the homeless and wounded
children get hugs and love, and
tents pitched up for those who
sought refuge.”
Cynthia has been thrown
into situations where language
barriers do not count as much
as recognizing a person’s need
for support. As a freshman in
college, she already has quite a
resume of skill and experience.
She once described herself as
going in the opposite in life:
college students usually get a
variety of experience after they
graduate. She got the experi
ence first, then started college.
Freshman Cynthia Tan brings a wealth of international experiences to St. Andrews.
Column
Pm not a “WheeUe,” I’m a person
by Amanda Willoughby
I have wondered ever since I
came to St. Andrews, where the term
“wheelie” came from. I wonder who
thought of it, and if it gets under very
many skins besides mine. Granted,
there are more offensive terms used
to describe people, but, as I see it,
there are a few fundamental things
wrong with “wheelie.”
First, it sounds like a mascot for
the Paralympics. Secondly, it does not
allow for distinction among some very
unique people. How are we ever sup
posed to get past stereotypes and mis
conceptions if the fu-st thing we see, and
the first thing we use to describe each
other is a wheelchair, or a pair of
nienced ” to the word “handicapped, for
example, because an inconvenience is a
thing I can get past. I can knock it out. I
can step around it.
On my weirder days, I imagine
that all we “inconvenienced” people are
like Barbie dolls. Some of us just have
more parts, and come in great big boxes
with other Parts Sold Separately. That
or had crutches, you’d find some
way to tell them apart, wouldn’t
you? Use your creative power.
Think of ways to describe people
so that the wheelchair—the
crutches, appear last, or not at all.
Maybe it’s okay to be a man or
woman or child who happens to be
in a wheelchair, but a wheelie? I
don’t think so.
crutches?
Maybe I am stuck on a word here,
but words are important. I have always
preferred the use of the word “inconve
metaphor doesn’t work for everybody,
but if all the Barbie dolls were in chairs,