Ogo Agbo

Hello, my name is Ogo Agbo. I am 19 years old, and I was born in Florida, but I have lived in California for almost all of my life. I have a big  family; in addition to my parents I have three older sisters, an older brother, and a younger brother. My hometown is a small, suburban city called San Luis Obispo. I am a sophomore in college and I am interested in studying Public Policy (similar to Political Science) and Psychology. When I grow up I would like to have a job with a nonprofit organization, and maybe after graduate school I could work go work in Africa helping to improve education for young children. I like to read, play piano, and go running in my free time, although I am usually very busy with school work. I am pretty easygoing and I like to make people laugh. I like to learn about different cultures, and I lived in Nigeria for three months when I was 16. I love the experience of learning about different cultures, and so next year I will get another chance to live in another country when I go to live in Santiago, Chile for three months during the winter quarter.

Abraham Cabangbang

I am a sophomore at Stanford University, majoring in Chemical Engineering. My parents are from the Philippines, but I was born in Houston, Texas, where I lived all 18 years of my life prior to coming to Stanford. In my spare time, I love to play poker, watch television (favorites: Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage), and listen to music (favorites: Alicia Keys and Amy Winehouse). Despite visiting the Philippines several times growing up, I never developed a strong connection to my cultural identity. At Stanford, I became actively involved in the Pilipino American Student Union (PASU) and Kayumanggi, Stanford’s Filipino Dance Troupe. My participation in these student organizations have taught me much about Filipino culture and issues, which has reinforced my cultural ties and helped me understand what my “Filipino-American” identity means to me. Last year, I took a PWR (Program in Writing and Rhetoric) class on ethnic humor. This year, I’m taking a similar class this quarter; I am exploring comedians’ ironic use of insults to entertain their audiences.

Elizabeth Do

Hi! My name's ELizabeth Do, and I am a sophomore at Stanford 
University. I'm was born in Vietnam, but immigrated to the US with my 
family when I was about 4 years old. Coming from an immigrant family,  I hold strong values in education, freedom, and equality, things that were not available to my parents in Vietnam. As such, I've worked hard throughout my life to gain access to higher education, which I want to use towards a career in international human rights and immigrants' rights. I am also very close to my family, which includes my father--a former Vietnam War paratrooper now turned mailman--and my mother--a  strong woman who's worked as a manicurist for over 10 years to support  her family--and my older and younger sisters. My family is my strength  and inspiration. In my free time, I love to play volleyball, listen to music, and take naps. I look forward to learning more about you in our cross-cultural session! Thanks!

David Dunford

My name is David Dunford and I am a second year undergraduate student at Stanford University studying Management Science and Engineering. I was born and brought up in Nairobi, Kenya and studied there until going to high school in England for five years. Both of my parents were also born in Nairobi as well as my grandmother on my mother’s side, so I am a third generation Kenyan. Here at Stanford I am on the swim team and therefore swimming has kind of dictated my life over the last few years. I also swim on the Kenyan national team and along with my older brother, I will be competing in the Olympic games this summer. Academically, I am not usually very interested in subjects that require much reading and writing but I am really enjoying this particular class on humour among different ethnicities. I feel like I can relate to the subject matter well because I have had a very diverse upbringing. Outside of school I love watching and playing sports. I surf and water-ski and spend a lot of time watching cricket and rugby.

Eugene Godsoe

            My name is Eugene Godsoe, and I’m a sophomore at Stanford University.  I’m majoring in International Relations with a focus in Economics.  I’m studying Japanese here and am almost fluent, and hope to take a quarter abroad in Japan at some point.
            A big part of my life is swimming.  I’m on the Varsity swim team and I swim backstroke.  We came in 3rd place this year at the NCAA championships, and look to have an even stronger year next year.  My hobbies include playing the piano (namely improve and video game pieces) as well as ping pong.  I’m generally outgoing and easy to talk to, and consider myself open-minded.

Gus Horwith

My name's Gus and I'm a sophomore (2nd  year Undergraduate) from New York.  Before you ask, no, not the city.  I live about 2 ½ hours away at the very end of Long Island in a town called East Hampton.  Before coming to NY, I spent the first 8 years of my life in the Caribbean, on the tiny West Indian island of Antigua.  As a result (or perhaps just as a happy coincidence) I have a fascination with different cultures and can confidently say my one true passion is travel.  I have not been nearly as many places as I hope to go some day, but I'm trying to remedy that one country at a time.  Here at Stanford, I'm president of an a cappella group and I'm a tour guide.  In my free time (what little there is) I like movies, especially comedies, and reading, part of the whole being taken away to another place thing, I think.

Bert McBride

My name is Bert McBride and I am a Sophomore majoring in Economics at Stanford University. I play American Football here at Stanford. I am also in a Fraternity, Kappa Sigma. I am a rather large guy, about 6 feet 3 inches (1.9 meters) tall and weigh about 285 pounds (129 Kilograms). I am from near Tampa, Florida called Thonotosassa. I went to Armwood High School and won two state championships in American football there. I was also valedictorian of my class. I am part Irish and even have a bit of Siamese in me. I was related to the original Siamese twins in America, Eng and Chang. I am on Eng’s side of the family.  Academically I am interested in money and how it moves and shakes our world today. I also enjoy presenting and public speaking. I love a good argument as well. I think that it would be great to get to know other cultures so that I can expand my view of money and speaking styles to the world scale.

Rachel Mozenter

My name is Rachel Mozenter and I’m a sophomore originally from Columbus, Ohio: a flat (relatively boring) state in the Midwest. Here at Stanford, I play on the field hockey team and am majoring in product design – a mixture of graphic design and mechanical engineering. My project for this class focuses on types of humor cross cultures, specifically that of the UK and The United States. I am exploring their different comedic styles by analyzing the TV show, The Office. Of course, this is relevant for studying different styles of humor across many cultures – including Egypt! – and I am very interested in looking at what types of jokes different people find funny and what types of humor transcend cultural barriers.

Haley Murphy

My name is Haley Murphy, and I am currently a sophomore at Stanford.  I am studying History with a minor in Political Science, so I’ve really come to appreciate the interconnectedness of the modern world.  Originally I come from Darien, Connecticut, about 40 minutes outside of New York City.  I have two brothers and two sisters, and miss both my hometown and my family a lot while I’m at school.
Darien’s one shortcoming, I believe, was that it did little for me culturally.  The small town is filled with a pretty homogeneous populace, so I got most of my exposure to different cultures through visits to New York.  Stanford has really been a new experience for me because it has put me in much closer contact with people of many different backgrounds. 
Most of my favorite things involve sports in some way.  I learned to play rugby at Stanford, and now compete on the team here.  I also love watching college basketball more than almost anything in the world.  In the fall I’ll be traveling to Florence to study for a semester abroad, and I’m really looking forward to living there until Christmas!

Caitlin Reynolds

Hi my name is Caitlin Reynolds. I am a second year undergrad student at Stanford where I am also a member of the varsity women’s swim team. Being a varsity athlete at Stanford is like having a full time job. It takes time to figure out the proper balance of athletics and academics, but it is entirely possible. As of right now, I am planning on majoring in Political Science with a focus in American Studies and a secondary concentration in International Relations. Thus, I am curious as to how people around the world view the United States. In addition to my interest in American Politics, I am also hoping to one day attend law school but as for now I am focusing on making it through college. Some of my interests outside of school and swimming include reading, relaxing with my friends, and playing with my two pet dogs. However, I do not get to see my dogs that often because they are at home in Atlanta, GA (which is on the other side of the country from Stanford). Nevertheless, I know my mom, dad, brother, and sister are giving them plenty of attention.

Stefanie Sutton

            My name is Stefanie Sutton, I am a sophomore undergraduate student at Stanford University.  I am majoring in political science, possibly with a minor in philosophy; political theory is my major academic interest.  After graduating from Stanford, I hope to attend law school.
            I was born in California, but grew up in a suburb outside of Seattle, Washington.  Back home, I live on a medium sized lake and also about 45 minutes from a ski resort.  I love to wakeboard and snowboard! In addition, I have been competitively swimming for most of my life.  Currently, I swim for Stanford’s varsity women’s team.  We have amazing coaches and a really fun team; this season we placed 3rd at the NCAA National Championships.  Overall, I am a really friendly person who loves sports or anything that makes you get up and be active! 

Letian Zhang

Hey my name is Letian, and I am a sophomore right now studying physics.  I came from China, and I go home every summer to visit.  So if you want to get some cheap Nike shoes, I can probably get you some from my town, but they are going to be fake though.  I am having a good time here at Stanford, enjoying the California weather, although these two days here is ridiculously hot, probably because global warming or something.  I like to play tennis, and basketball.  I used to play lots of tennis in high school, but after I came to Stanford, the courts are too far away from my dorm, and I have been really lazy and so I spent most of my time playing basketball (there are some hoops right outside my window).  I like to travel, and I have been to a couple places in the middle east (do you know a country called Bahrain?  It is probably too small to be seen on the map, but somehow I ended up spent my last summer there).  My roommate’s name is Steve Monroe.  You should remember his name because he is coming over to your university (American University at Cairo, right?) to study next year, the same goes to my man Afeef.

Anyways, it is really nice talking to you.  I just did the word count, and I actually have 253 words already.  This assignment requires only 150-200 words, so I guess those extra words must mean extra credit. Yeah!!!