International Students & Scholars Office
May 2014
Alumni Profile
Sam Dinga
ISSO Summer Plans
Moving Offices -The ISSO will be
moving back to the ESL space this
summer. Brad Van Den Elzen, Melissa
Murray Telitha Bean-Thompson and
Martha Yonke will be moving to SSC
020 along with Ginny Bondeson and
Marcia Mace. ESL instructors Jutta
Bendel, Gene Hahn and Art Freman
will be moving into our old space in
SSC 210. Next fall stop by and say
hello. Student mail boxes will also be
in SSC 020.
Hi! My name is Sam Dinga and I am
originally from Cameroon, West Africa.
I graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s
degree in sociology, and completed a
master’s degree in human and community
resources in 2010. I work as the Diversity
Relations Specialist at AIG. I live in
Stevens Point with my wife Amy (2006
Alum) and our three sons: Sivan (6),
Sander (4) and Sage (2). I am founder
and CEO of Volearn Travel LLC, a tour
company that organizes volunteer and
cultural experience trips to West Africa,
and founder of the Makah Water for All
Foundation (www.makahwaterforall.
org), a nonprofit organization that
raises funds and builds pump wells to
provide clean drinking water in rural
areas of Cameroon. Recently I added an
international service-learning course to
Cameroon through UW-Stevens Point.
The students work with Makah Water for
All during the January Winterim. I am
also on the Alumni Board, and proud to
be a POINTER!!!
Saying Good-bye - Jenni Yang, ESL
Program Assistant and former ESL
instructor, will be leaving the ESL
program this summer. She is planning
on returning to school and working
on her RN degree. We will all miss
her and wish her the best in her new
career. The good news is she isn’t
moving so we will still get to see her!
Summer Programs - We are looking
forward to our ESL summer session
and the students staying in town
for summer school. We will also
be hosting two large groups from
China. Rivers as Bridges will bring
a group again this summer for the
weekend of July 18-19. ENCSS
(Environment and Public Health
Network for Chinese Students and
Scholars) will be on campus July
24-27. Yujing Hu will be helping the
ISSO with both of those camps. Are
you in Stevens Point this summer? Do
you speak Chinese? Contact Martha
Yonke for possible summer camp job
opportunities for those dates.
Upcoming Events
Need a I-20 Travel Signature?
Stop by the DUC
11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Friday,
May 9; and Monday May 12- Table
in the DUC Concourse
Cultural Festival
Saturday May 10, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Final Exams
Monday, May 12-Friday, May 16,
2013
ISSO Graduation Reception
Friday, May 16, from 3-4:30 p.m.
Encore DUC
Student Profile
Daniela Cabrera Abarca
Daniela began in our ESL program and now is
an interior architecture major with a minor in
economics. During her time at UW-Stevens
Point, she had an internship in France and has
two more set up for this summer. She found
these opportunities by doing Internet searches
and then applying for multiple positions. Below
is her summary of these experiences.
Architect’s assistant, Club du Vieux Manoir,
Argy and Sorde, France. This has been the
greatest experience so far! Dealing with a
new language, French; and learning how to
communicate in a “real world” job including
doing technical drawings to choose the new
materials and seeing what materials can be
reused. The reconstruction process taught me
to really appreciate historical buildings and
how I see them. I got to live in the castle we
reconstructed (Chateau d’Argy) and camp in
the monastery (Abbaye Saint-Jean de Sorde).
Interior Architect and Designer, Michael
Thomas & Company, Manhattan, New York.
This will be a one month internship in
Manhattan (June-July, 2014). This company
works with both residential and commercial
buildings so I will get both experiences.
Interior Architect and Designer, D-Holic, Lima,
Peru. This internship will be two months
long (July-August). It is a small company
that has many commercial projects such as
hotels, restaurants, salon and spas. I am really
interested in this internship because I can learn
how interior architecture works in my country.
Moreover, learn about the codes, standards and
get used to the metric system again.
ISSO hosted 25 international students from local High
schools for a special View Point Day last month
International Student Graduates
May 2014
Alanood Saif Alhrqan
Saudi Arabia, Special learning
Disabilities-Certification
Chao Chen
China, Business Administration and
Economics
Kejing Chen
China, CIS - Application Development
and Support
Pranav Dogra
India, Business Administration, CIS
Application Development and Support, IT
Ying Fu
China, Business Administration and
Communication - Media Studies
Vadym Ianaiev
Ukraine, Soil and Waste Resource - Waste
Management
Junyi Ji
China, Dietetics
Hong Suk Kim
South Korea, Social Science
MariuszKujawski
Poland, Dance
Ang Li
China, Business Administration and
International Business
Chen Hui Li
China, Business Administration and
International Business
Jing Li
China, Business Administration
DiLiu
China, Accounting and Business
Administration
Gerdine Michel
Haiti, Philosophy- Environmental Ethics
Srinuan Saokhamnuan
Thailand, Communication - Public
Relations
Jun Shen
China, Business Administration, Finance,
Insurance and Real Estate
Vinod Kallyana Sundram
Singapore, Psychology -Human Services
Sandi Win Thu
Myanmar, Biochemistry
Ying Wang
China, Early Childhood Education
Yuzhou Zhang
China, Business Administration and
International Business
GuodongZhu
China, Business Administration
Management
Wei Zuo
China, Art
Friends of the ISSO:
Alia Jung
Business Administration Management
Athena Lo
Family and Consumer Sciences, Dietetics
Sayaka Schatzke
Communication, Individually Planned
Major and International Studies
Andraya Wimmer
Art - Graphic Design
1108 Fremont Street
210 Student Services Center
Stevens Point, WI 54481-3109
Phone: 715-346-3849
Fax: 715-346-3819