2003 - 2004

Aditi Chokshi
Aditi, a first-year student whose parents are originally from India, grew up in Missouri City, Texas. She attended the Medical Science Academy magnet program at Hightower High School, a special program for high school students considering a medical career. The program not only allowed her to take advanced science and math courses, but provided internship experience at local hospitals. Aditi was able to shadow doctors at the Texas Medical Center and work in the pediatric unit at the Anderson Cancer Center and the cardiology unit at the Veterans Administration hospital. She participated in research with the Thrombosis and Intervention Research Team at Baylor College of Medicine and helped initiate a special relationship between the college and her high school. Aditi was also an active member of the Debate Team, qualifying for the All-State Championship two years in a row, as well as the National Forensic League national tournament. She has been named Orator of the Year and has been Lincoln Douglas Debate of the Year for four consecutive years. She also enjoys classical Indian folk dance, figure skating, karate, and playing the clarinet. Although Aditi was once certain that medicine was the only career she would consider, she has become interested in law and international affairs as well, and hopes her experiences at Columbia will inform her choice of careers.

Jerrold Wong
Jerrold, currently a sophomore, is originally from San Francisco, California. Last year at Vassar College, he was class president of the Class of 2006 and Committee Chair of the Executive Board of Vassar Asian Students Aliance. He is excited to be here at Columbia to enjoy the breadth and depth of Columbia’s East Asian Languages and Cultures and Economics programs. He plans to major in East Asian Studies with a minor in economics. He would like to pursue a M.B.A. degree and eventually a career in international business in either Shanghai or Tokyo, Japan. A proficient speaker of both Chinese and Japanese, Jerrold comes from a very “international” upbringing and has been exposed to various Asian cultures. He has received two scholarships to go to Japan, one from the San Francisco-Osaka Sister City Association and one from Youth for Understanding. He plans on studying abroad in the fall of 2004 in either Japan or China. He is also active in campus activities including the Asian American Alliance and the Columbia Uptown Vocal Accappella Group. Over the summer Jerrold worked in San Francisco and took a class, the Political Economy of Industrial Societies, at U.C. Berkeley.

2002 - 2003

Lady Reyes
Lady Reyes, an incoming first-year student, graduated from Perth Amboy High School at the top of her class. She pursued an extremely rigorous academic program, including 9 AP classes, as well as additional Calculus and Biology coursework at a community college. She has served on student government, was president of the Key Club, and played varsity tennis, among other things. Lady also held a part-time job throughout high school. Her teachers have described her as "a brilliant student ...with a strong desire to grow and learn."

Alice Wong
Alice Wong graduated from Stuyvesant High School with a GPA of over 93%. An AP Scholar, she "consistently went beyond requirements" according to her teachers. She was a member of the Asian Pacific Youth Alliance and attended an Asian American Writers Workshop each Saturday during high school as well as a finalist in both the "Do The Write Thing" writing contest and the Japan Society Haiku competition. Alice's goal is to become a lawyer.