Mandana Mohtasham `11

I chose to go to school at SLU because I liked the fact that it was a liberal arts college that offered arts, music, and language classes. Ever since I was a child, I enjoyed drawing and painting and was highly interested in different types of art. I also have been playing the piano since I was 6 years old, and at the age of ten I started playing the cello. This enabled me to join the SLU orchestra for two years as a cellist. My mother is Japanese, and my father is Iranian, so I had a very multi-cultural experience growing up as a child; I was able to experience the different holidays, learn both languages, and eat both foods. I also took Spanish throughout high school, so I can speak (not all fluently) English, Spanish, Japanese, and Farsi. Knowing that SLU offered most of these languages made me very excited and I wanted to come to this school to take these language courses. Going to school here at SLU has been a wonderful experience and I love the fact that it is a diverse school that allows different ethnicities to hold events to show and teach everyone else about their culture. I feel very "at home" going to school here. Right now I am taking an Arts of SE Asia course, intermediate Japanese, organic chemistry, and a physics laboratory. I'm hoping to continue med school courses and eventually get into medical school and become a doctor.