Peer Mentor Coordinator

Ramina Murshudova is from Azerbaijan, and grew up in the capital, Baku. She graduated from Baku State University with B.A. degree in International Relations in 2008. While working toward her bachelor's degree in International Relations, she was employed as an Educational Programs Intern by the American Councils/ACCELS office. She assisted in such educational programs as the Junior Faculty Development Program (JFDP) for professors, teachers and researchers in high education system and Open World – visitor's program sponsored by the Library of Congress for professionals in different fields. Later on, Ramina was promoted to the position of FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) Program Coordinator, where she was in charge of recruiting between 45-55 high school students for a one year exchange program in the US schools. In 2009, after being selected as a finalist of Edmund S. Muskie program, she received a full scholarship from the U.S. Government to pursue graduate studies.  This program placed her at SIT Graduate Institute, Brattleboro, Vermont, where she decided to continue her studies in the field of International Education. Currently, she is the Graduate Intern at SFSU Office of International Programs and will coordinate the SFSU Study Abroad Peer Mentor Program in Fall 2010.

Lead Peer Mentor

Anthony Morin was born and Raised in sunny California , this 23 year old guy has been involved with international education for over 6 years. A French Major for the past several years, Anthony became an ex-pat moving to Paris France , where he fell in love with the city of light and the luminaries of Europe . These past two years have given him a small taste of the world, only to make him hungry for more. Learning other languages is a hobby of his, and Anthony will always remember the difference between the word salty and dirty in French. When he was telling his Parisian friends about how "salty" his shoes were, they all laughed and replied, we wouldn't know, He then realized how the two words sound very similar and never lived that day down. Mr. Morin hopes to one day work for International Programs and wants to help others get their small taste of the world.

Jasmin Gamez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. She was born in Fresno, California but grew up in a small town called King City. She moved to San Francisco to attend college. Jasmin is studying International Relations and hopes to work with an international organization. Jasmin is an adventurous person and likes to try extreme sports (at least once) like indoor rock climbing, scuba diving, paragliding and spelunking. She hopes to try sky diving for her next birthday. Jasmin can speak Spanish and hopes to learn Arabic and French in the near future. Jasmin has always been passionate about traveling. Last year she studied at the University of Legon in Ghana . Ghana was the first African country she ever visited. She was interested in learning about major development and cultural gaps between developing and western countries. One of the major cultural differences she noticed was the way of eating. When Jasmin first arrived, she was eating at a “chop bar” in Ghana and she was wondering why people kept staring at her. She thought she had some food on her face. Turns out that she was eating with her left hand. Well, in Ghanaian culture she was eating with her dirty hand (the hand used to wipe one's bottom). She had offended the whole restaurant without realizing it. Jasmin never made that mistake again.

Cindy Pearce moved to San Francisco in 2006. She will be graduating with a degree in business management in spring of 2011. She first became inspired to study abroad while helping her parents host exchange students for a couple summers. She was excited to teach them about the American culture and her everyday life. She developed a new found respect for different cultures and the knowledge traveling can give you, which inspired her to go abroad and learn new cultures first hand. Cindy found a great business school that would expand her business and public speaking skills. She studied at HAN Business School in the Netherlands for the 2009-2010 academic year. It was Cindy's first time overseas and found grocery shopping a whole new experience. Her first time shopping she had to buy quite a bit of food since she had nothing to begin with. After paying for her food, she couldn't find the bags to put her groceries in. She asked the clerk where the plastic bags were . The clerk pointed to very small plastic bags that were probably only big enough to fit one gallon of milk! She did not realize most people bring their own bags. So she had to load all her groceries into multiple bags to get them to her dorm. She brought her own bag next time!

Jari Pearson was born and raised in the East Bay and has lived in the Bay Area his whole life. When he moved to Danville and started High School he became very interested in Foreign Languages. He ended up taking both German and Japanese classes throughout all of High School which lead to three separate short trips abroad. It was after these trips he knew he had to pick a language and get out of California to see more of the world; he chose Japanese. He is very passionate about Japanese Language, Culture, History, and many other parts of Japanese culture. He just got back from a year abroad in Oita , Japan where he improved his Japanese more than he had expected. Speaking of unexpected, when he was living with his girlfriend in Oita during the second half of the year he became ambiguously married. One day after they had moved into a new room that was bigger, he and his girlfriend were greeted by the Dormitory's manager. He greeted them kindly and he congratulated them on their move-in and "marriage," and was curious if a baby was in the future. At first the two were very taken aback, unsure of why he considered them married. They responded that they had thought of kids yet, and hurried away as quickly as possible to contemplate his words. It was only later, after talking to some Japanese friends, that they learned that if you live together with the opposite sex in Japan , even just friends or roommates, people assume you are married. So they humored the man and remained "married" for the rest of their time there.

Eileen Nguyen  is a liberal studies major with an emphasis in ethnic studies and business on her 4th year at San Francisco State University. This Silicon Valley native loves athletics and going out for runs but found it quite disappointing to find no great places to run in the big city of Seoul, South Korea where she decided to study abroad for two semesters. That was ok though because she decided to take up Taekwondo, the country's national sport, when she was there to learn something new and get a different taste of Korea besides its delicious food. Being involved in the taekwondo club at her host university was a fun and amazing experience but it wasn't so great in the beginning. Especially when she just first started practicing and didn't know all of the rules or the cultural norms, she accidentally made one of her teammates cry! Totally taken off guard and mortified from the experience, she vowed to be more aware and sensitive to Korean culture and cues. None the less she had a spectacular time in Korea and is eager to share her experiences and new outlook outside of the Silicon Valley tech bubble.

Angela Vuong is a Chinese Vietnamese American and she was born and raised in San Francisco. The thought of studying and living abroad for one year was impossible since she know how ignorant she is about her own culture. Therefore, she took a giant step in life by stepping out of her comfort zone and studying abroad in Hong Kong in despite of her family's objection. Although she had experienced being homesick sometimes but during her study abroad year, she met a really diverse group of people from all over the world and had created a network before her eyes. She never believed she could and now that she did, she is glad that she stepped out of her sheltered life and created more opportunities for herself. After an exciting year of exploration, she returned to San Francisco. These days, instead of sitting at home and watching Law and Order or the O.C., she started watching dramas from different countries to understand their cultures more in depth. Aside from watching dramas, Angela enjoys trying new things, eating, walking her dog and swimming. From this experience, she realized that nothing is impossible, it just depends if you are willing to put your heart in accomplishing it.

Holly Sisson emerged from her comfortable life behind the "Redwood Curtain" - AKA: Humboldt county, to be pleasantly greeted by the diverse and rich-in-opportunity campus life here at San Francisco State University . After one short and fun-filled year getting acquainted with both the quaint and bustling neighborhoods of San Francisco, making friends on and off campus, and deciding to take an even bigger leap of faith, Holly headed out once again to explore the world. First, Holly studied for a year in Granada, Spain, enveloped by centuries old castles and her first experience with four distinct seasons, that truly left her with a country reveling in natural, and man-made beauty. The friends she made came to be buddies who shared many things except dietary preferences. Holly tried many new Mediterranean seafood dishes and in exchange shared the fact that some people in northern California consume soy products for such reasons that if humans were going to drink animal milk they would drink their own species' milk. Needless to say, there weren't any dull moments with such conversations! Soon enough, Holly found herself on her next adventure- another study abroad experience in Santiago, Chile. This is where she found her deep passion for unity and solidarity within populations. Currently, Holly can be found finishing up her dual degree in psychology and Spanish, while remaining very involved with the international community on campus- determined not to let her contact with personalities and cultures from all over the world to ever end.

Ellery Smith was born and raised in the small, cow-town, Davis , California then moved to San Francisco to start her life anew.  She was always interested in anime and manga , so she took beginning Japanese when she was in high school. However, the interest in anime and manga gradually faded away and she became more interested in Japanese culture and society.  Then, in her freshman year at SFSU, Ellery learned that she could study abroad, so she immediately started looking into it and planning for her life-changing journey.  Finally, her dream came true! She went to Waseda University in Tokyo , Japan where the most difficult thing for her was the language.  Even her dictionary didn't help, for when she asked one of her guy friends for a hug, he stared at her wide-eyed and froze. Apparently, in her dictionary the word dakishimeru does not mean hug, but rather a long and passionate embrace usually exchanged between lovers.  From then on, she used her dictionary less often. 

Jameka Woodbery I am 21 years old, and I am a psychology major with a minor in German. I studied in 2009-10 at the University of Tuebingen and University of Konstanz. I am in my 4th year here at SF state. I plan to graduate in Spring 2011 or Spring 2012. My goal is to return to Germany for another year abroad through the CSU IP program. Going abroad to Germany really helped me improve my German language skills as well as open so many opportunities. I do have to share an embarrassing experience that I encountered when I was abroad this past year. When first arriving to Germany, I barely knew the language. When arriving off the plane, I had to use the bathroom. As I made my way to the bathroom section, I noticed that the doors said "Damen" and "Herren". I did not notice if there were any pictures near the signs. When I thought to myself, I said that "Herren" were women and "Damen" were men. When I went inside the bathroom, I noticed the urinals, and saw a man walk in after me. I giggled to myself and ran out. The man looked at me strangely and I apologized in German and said I was an international student. He laughed and directed me to the women's restroom on the other side and said "Damen" means women. I had the definitions switched in my mind. That was the experience I will never forget.  I am excited to be a peer mentor this year for the study abroad office. I am excited to provide a helping hand to those in need of assistance when leaving abroad upcoming year or those who are international students here at this university.  

Leslie Chow Leslie Chow is from San Francisco ! She will be graduating with a degree in Liberal Studies. She is currently interested in becoming an Elementary School teacher. She studied at Chung Ang University in Seoul Korea last semester. Seoul was an unforgettable experience, that has made her realize that she wants to travel and learn more about other countries. Seoul was the biggest trip of her life; it was her first time traveling on her own. Seoul had amazing food, cute food carts, nice people, cheap shopping, and an awesome bus system. She learned how to say cheaper please “gak gak juseyo” and some other useful things. Over the summer, she plans on traveling to Asia to volunteer with children. She enjoys cooking, baking, dragon-boating, swimming, basketball, reading, photography, and more! She can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and limited Korean.

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