TCK Board 2012-2013

History and Goals:

The TCK board was first created in the Fall of 2001. The board meets once a week, and the members serve as advisors who generate ideas and plans that the TCK intern will then set in motion. The board’s main goal is to promote events and advise the TCK intern on projects that they feel will be most effective and support the cause of the TCK group.

Get Involved:

If you are interested in being a member, please e-mail the TCK Intern, Kim Takinami, at tck@lclark.edu or come to the International Students and Scholars office located on the 3rd floor of Templeton, above the student government offices!

TCK Board Members 2012-2013:

 

 Kim Takinami (TCK intern, ‘13) is a senior Psychology major, who was born to a Japanese father and an American mother in Tokyo, Japan. For the first 9 years of her life, she grew up in Tokyo, and then moved to Hawaii for the next 9 years. After coming to Lewis & Clark, she has spent roughly equal amounts of time in Portland and Tokyo, making her life thus far split 50/50 between Japan and the US. She loves learning about others, and loves hearing stories about where they are from and how they grew up! She also loves learning new languages, and has gone on study abroad programs in France, China, and Japan. In the future, she hopes to serve as a connecting bridge between Japan and many countries around the world!

 

 

 

 

 

Eric Roberts (‘12) is a senior Hispanic Studies major graduating in December. He was born in Bakersfield, California and has lived in Indonesia for 4 years and Ecuador for 11. Although Eric only has US citizenship, he has lived most of his life in Ecuador and considers Quito his home. His major passion in life is parkour and has been doing it for 6 years or so. Eric is also clearly the most attractive TCK board member. 

 

 

Amanda Wickramasekera, (‘13) aka Mandy, is a TCK who has lived in Sri Lanka, Singapore, England and currently The USA, where she has met some of the sweetest human beings who will be a part of her for the rest of her life. She is a senior double majoring in Environmental Studies and Sociology. She admits that she thinks the coolest thing about who she is something that only she knows, and that is that throughout her life, her laugh kept changing depending on the environment she settles in. She also admits that her current laugh is her favorite one to date. She is an avid dancer and tells that it play huge role in her life. Wherever there is anything involving Bollywood dancing, rest assured that she’d be there!

 

 

Ksenia Girsova, (‘13) is a junior majoring in International Affairs and minoring in Studio Art. She was born in Russia where she grew up the first six years of her life until fate and her father’s company moved her to Hong Kong. Four years later she was coming to terms with yet another culture and language in South Korea, and eight years later fate again placed her in a foreign place, namely Portland, Oregon. Despite the turbulent changes in setting, several things have not changed: she still loves to order the most interesting-sounding item on the menu and discuss everything under the sun over a hot cup of tea.

 

 

Kathleen Burckhardt (‘14) is a junior majoring in English with a double minor in Art and History. She was born in Switzerland to a Swiss father and a US/TCK mother. After eight years in Switzerland she moved to a tiny town of 200 people in rural Ireland where she stayed for two years. Then her parents decided to move back to North America and she found herself on a small island called Whidbey Island in Washington State, USA. Barely three years later her family got the itch to move once more, and they immigrated to Canada where she lived for six years before coming to Lewis & Clark College. Kathleen loves to connect with other students, both American and International, and strives to bring these two communities together through her work on both the TCK and ISLC (International Students of Lewis & Clark) boards. She believes in the power of food and tea in fostering conversations as well as life long friendships. So, wherever there is tea, chocolate, food, or any other goodies, there Kathleen is to be found! 

                 

 

Clara Murata, (‘14) is a Belgian born Japanese who has lived in Japan, Panama, Belgium, Indonesia, and China. Although she does consider all of these places to be her home(s) for various reasons, her home is and always will be Tokyo, Japan! Although having grown up speaking in English since she was eight years old, she had never lived in a country where English was the primary language prior to coming to LC. Living in America is a dream come true for her. She loves to go downtown and spend all the money she earns from her tutoring job getting delicious food. This year, she hopes to explore more of Portland’s amazing restaurants, drink local beers and wines and enjoy life. 

 

 

Christa Giesecke, (‘15), is a second-year International Affairs & Foreign Languages major who has lived in Nashville, TN, Bremen, Germany, Indianapolis, IN, and most recently Thessaloniki, Greece, where she graduated from secondary school.  Although she still struggles to answer the question “where are you from?”, she feels quite at home in Portland after having grown up spending summers in the Pacific Northwest visiting relatives.  When not serving the L&C TCK and international communities, Christa enjoys meeting and connecting interesting people, exploring Portland and its great outdoors, learning and speaking different languages, volunteering, reading, and running with her wonderful teammates.  She is incredibly excited about godwillingly spending the Spring semester in Buenos Aires.  

                                 

 

Alyssa Kurosu (‘15) is a TCK born in San Diego, California where she lived for 9 years until the 3rd grade when her family decided to move to Tokyo, which she now considers home. She is currently a sophomore majoring in Psychology and this is her second time living in the US since she was 9 years old. She is three quarters Japanese and one quarter American, and considers herself to be part of both cultures. She loves to eat, sleep, travel, learn about new cultures and go downtown and shop!!!

 

 

 

David James Parker-Stevens (‘15) was born and raised in Whitley Bay, in the North-East of England (near Newcastle). As Scotland is less than a half-hour away from Newcastle, many of his weekends and summers were spent roaming the hills, collecting wild berries, being ridiculous and enjoying the company of his childhood friends. He moved to Medford, Oregon for high school and hasn’t been back to England since. When his family moved to the States, I was 12, my sister Zena was 7 and my brother Thomas was 2.
Since the age of three, I’ve had the goal of becoming a doctor. For the past few years, my focus has been pediatrics as I love to work with kids. Here at LC, I am double majoring in biology and music. I play the violin, sing and whistle. I’d also love to learn to play the harp!
He loves contemplating the world from the back of a motorcycle, being challenged, having discussions and exploring nature. Hikes are so fun! Actually, this coming summer he’s making plans to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from San Francisco back to Portland. 

  

 

Sarah Ruggiere (‘16) is a freshman majoring in Environmental Studies. She was born in New Jersey but has lived all over the world. After New Jersey her dad’s job took her to Hungary, Uruguay, Spain, Arkansas, Taiwan, and now Portland. Spending more time out of the United States, she has no idea where she’s from and likes to consider herself a citizen of the world. She loves spending time with her friends, playing the piano, singing, dancing, playing tennis, and eating. Food is one of her ultimate joys in life. She says that one of the greatest things about living abroad is the fact that she has been able to experience so many different cultures and traditions. She hopes to make the TCKs at Lewis and Clark feel at home.

 

 

Ting Wei (‘16) One of her earliest memories is being on a long, long plane ride. She was four when her Dad decided to take them on a holiday to Vancouver, British Columbia. Little did she know she’d spend the next ten years of her life ‘shuttling’ back and forth between Canada and Taiwan, her birthplace. In that decade, she struggled to fully assimilate into one culture. Her family often returned to Taiwan for the holidays, so she had both Taiwanese culture and Canadian culture within her. She was a TCK before I understood the term; and it’s become embedded in her identity. She used to panic when she thought of identity. What are my roots? What culture do I represent best? Now she’s learned to relax and accept changes to her identity. Now that she’s in Portland, she has elements of an ‘Oregonian’ (organic food rocks!). For her, home is belonging. It’s wherever her family is, and whatever she’s familiar with. She is excited for her time at L&C and finding her place in this new home.