Tiger Tuesday: a Q&A with Supitha 鈥淢ook鈥� Phawapoothanon, 鈥�20
This article is part of an occasional series introducing you to our Tigers.
By Megan Bradshaw on May 1, 2017
Supitha 鈥淢ook鈥� Phawapoothanon, 鈥�20, international studies and political science
Tell me about where you鈥檙e from.
I鈥檓 from Bangkok, Thailand. I was born in a different city and then I moved to a different city and then I moved to Bangkok. It鈥檚 really hot and the food is really good. Since it鈥檚 my home country, it feels more homey. I came here [to the U.S.] when I was 13. The first half of my childhood was in Thailand, but I grew up here and developed my identity. It was a big adjustment coming from Thailand where I don鈥檛 have to worry about who I am because I know people around me are kind of similar to me. We share similar background, ancestors, culture and traditions.
Tell me about your family.
My mom and my biological dad split when I was little. Both of them didn鈥檛 get the education they wanted because of the difficulties their families were going through. I stayed with my mom and my brother stayed with my dad. My mom met this really awesome man and they married. Currently they run a fish export business. They live in Thailand; I came here by myself to live with my grandma and aunt.
What made you choose Towson University?
I was thinking about going home to Thailand [for college] but my grandmom was like, 鈥淚 only have two grandchildren and one of them is already here, so why not try to pursue the best education you can get since you鈥檙e already here?鈥� I tried really hard during my college application, and I got scholarships. My grandmom really wanted to see me succeed and try her best to give me the best I can have. Personally, I like the working environment in the United States more. I like the vibe I get from people here, the confidence they have. It fits my personality.
What do you do in your free time?
I work a lot. I try to keep myself busy so when I go home I can just sleep. I like to read autobiographies and speeches from different eras. Right now I鈥檓 reading a collection of speeches from the 20th century. It鈥檚 so interesting. I get to read Hitler鈥檚 speech and then compare it to Winston Churchill鈥檚 and also Gandhi鈥檚 speech compared to Margaret Thatcher. I get to put myself in their situations and compare the history.
What is your favorite class or professor?
It was English for International Students. The professor was Jennifer Moss-Smith. She helped me so much to express myself and be vocal about my opinion but at the same time be conscious of people around me and how I converse my ideas to make sure it doesn鈥檛 hurt other people. She created this safe environment in the class for me to be my opinionated self but at the same time to be very conscious about my surroundings. That was a really, really good class I had last semester.
What made you want to work in Civic Engagement?
To be honest I was just scrolling through open positions at Hire@快活视频and I didn鈥檛 even know what office Civic Engagement was! I鈥檓 a strength builder. It fits my personality. I like to talk to people. I like to use my knowledge to help them become better at what they鈥檙e doing. I do presentations and workshops. It鈥檚 my first year, so I work with student organizations, mostly to Greek clubs. I also work in student admissions. I work in the phone center. I鈥檓 still a newbie in training. I鈥檓 also in the freshman council in the SGA and am the diversity chair. I work closely with advocating the importance of diversity on our campus.
What are your plans for the future?
I want to work in an NGO and focus on human rights and human trafficking. It has been my interest for a while now. Because in Thailand鈥ven though it鈥檚 a beautiful country, awesome food, I love my country, but we still have a human trafficking problem. It just hurt me so much to know that this is happening where I grew up. This is happening to my people. I have this opportunity to be here and get this education. I feel like I should be giving back in some way and this is how I can do it. Not just in Thailand and Asia but throughout the world. I feel like I鈥檓 so fortunate, and that鈥檚 what keeps me going to finish school as soon as possible to help these problems.