Senior Spotlight: November 2010
Pwint Khine
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In Spring 2010, biochemistry major Pwint Khine from Yangon, Myanmar was initiated into Mortar Board for her superior scholastic ability, outstanding and continual leadership, and dedicated service to the community. After her initiation, Pwint was elected by her peers to serve as the Event and Meeting Coordinator, where she is responsible for many tasks including planning and executing all meetings and events spearheaded by other members. Outside of Mortar Board, Pwint is involved with, among other things, research at the Kaner Lab, the Alumni Scholars Club, the Burmese Students Association, and volunteer work for the LAC+USC General Hospital. Pwint has clearly demonstrated great involvement in the community. She even identifies her greatest accomplishment as working for and receiving the Los Angeles Water Municipal Grant to remove groundwater chemical pollutants in Arroyo Seco! Please continue reading as we turn the spotlight on Pwint!
Describe your personality in three words.
Patient, determined, and curious
What is your best quality? Give an experience when you have put this quality to use.
My best quality is being patient. I have been tutoring sciences and math since I was a college freshman. I always make sure that my students understand the concepts, no matter how long it takes me to teach them. There was one time I tutored math to one student for four hours straight.
What are your interests?
I like swimming, reading, watching TV series, and listening to music while studying.
What do you like about UCLA?
UCLA offers extremely high educational experience and a beautiful campus with glamorous gardens where I can study and relax at the same time. In addition, it provides great research opportunities for undergraduates from different majors.
What is one thing you would like to change at UCLA?
I would like to reduce the class size. In some classes, there were about 250 students and it was hard to get individual attention from professors.
What has been your biggest learning experience?
My biggest learning experience is doing research. Participation in research programs has helped enhance my intellectual capabilities. The hands-on experiences I receive from working as an undergraduate research associate have allowed me to develop and understand new research methods, ethnics, and conduct rules. The more time I spend on research, the more I am able to advance my ability in drawing conclusions, critical analysis, and problem solving skills.
Name two movies you could watch over and over again? Why?
Two movies that I could watch over and over again are Pride and Prejudice and Inception. Pride and Prejudice portrays the social realism of the eighteenth-century England patriarchal society and points out faults in the system, raising the questions about the social structure of the country. Inception gives the viewers various pieces of images and motifs, and allows the audience to put them together to get a clear picture. I will never be bored to watch it over and over again.
What is your favorite book and why?
My favorite book is THE SCARLET LETTER because Hawthorne uses different literacy devices to illustrate the power of strong women in a Puritan era where they should be subordinate to men.
If you could meet anyone in history who would it be and why?
I would like to meet Florence Nightingale because she was a pioneer of nursing and a reformer of hospital sanitation. She found out that the sanitary needles caused deaths and fought for the reform of the hospital system. I want to be someone like Nightingale to reform the health care system in the United States and the world to fight for the health disparity existing between the rich and the poor
If you could go anywhere in the world for a day where would you go and why?
I would go to Cairo, Egypt to discover the Egyptian pyramids.
What career would you like to pursue after graduation? Why?
I would like to pursue M.D./Ph.D. program after graduation. I want to apply the scientific method in research because understanding what is happening at the molecular level, I believe that we can make new discoveries that will improve the quality of life for people. In addition, with the scientific knowledge, I will be able to solve real-life problems in patient-care.
What characteristics does it take to become a great leader?
A great leader needs to haveselfless devotion and willingness to help people from their sufferings.
Name one person you admire? Why?
The person I admire the most is Aung San Suu Kyi because she sacrifices her own happiness to fight for democracy in Myanmar. She believes that through her struggle, an entire nation could have the right to seek human rights and true happiness.
Who has been your most influential professor and why?
My most influential professor is Dr. Waimin Liu, a physics professor at Pasadena City College. He always tells his students that we must never forget people who have helped us. He once said that he pursues a career in teaching because he wants to pay back to Americans in the same way that they have done to him, when he first arrived in the United States.
Which is the one television character that you simply adore?
Gregory House.
What are the three most played songs on your iPod?
You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift), Thank You (Dido), and Not Afraid (Enimen).
If given a choice, which animal would you want to be? Why?
I would want to be a puppy because they are very cute and everyone loves them.
Have you traveled outside of the United States? If so, where?
No.
Which is the funniest prank played on you or played by you?
At one summer camp, one of the members put on make-up with very black eye shadow and bright red lipsticks. With a candle in his hand, he woke me up and scared me!
What does being a member of Mortar Board mean to you?
Mortar Board has given me the passion to succeed, confidence to lead, and motivation to contribute to society.
Patient, determined, and curious
What is your best quality? Give an experience when you have put this quality to use.
My best quality is being patient. I have been tutoring sciences and math since I was a college freshman. I always make sure that my students understand the concepts, no matter how long it takes me to teach them. There was one time I tutored math to one student for four hours straight.
What are your interests?
I like swimming, reading, watching TV series, and listening to music while studying.
What do you like about UCLA?
UCLA offers extremely high educational experience and a beautiful campus with glamorous gardens where I can study and relax at the same time. In addition, it provides great research opportunities for undergraduates from different majors.
What is one thing you would like to change at UCLA?
I would like to reduce the class size. In some classes, there were about 250 students and it was hard to get individual attention from professors.
What has been your biggest learning experience?
My biggest learning experience is doing research. Participation in research programs has helped enhance my intellectual capabilities. The hands-on experiences I receive from working as an undergraduate research associate have allowed me to develop and understand new research methods, ethnics, and conduct rules. The more time I spend on research, the more I am able to advance my ability in drawing conclusions, critical analysis, and problem solving skills.
Name two movies you could watch over and over again? Why?
Two movies that I could watch over and over again are Pride and Prejudice and Inception. Pride and Prejudice portrays the social realism of the eighteenth-century England patriarchal society and points out faults in the system, raising the questions about the social structure of the country. Inception gives the viewers various pieces of images and motifs, and allows the audience to put them together to get a clear picture. I will never be bored to watch it over and over again.
What is your favorite book and why?
My favorite book is THE SCARLET LETTER because Hawthorne uses different literacy devices to illustrate the power of strong women in a Puritan era where they should be subordinate to men.
If you could meet anyone in history who would it be and why?
I would like to meet Florence Nightingale because she was a pioneer of nursing and a reformer of hospital sanitation. She found out that the sanitary needles caused deaths and fought for the reform of the hospital system. I want to be someone like Nightingale to reform the health care system in the United States and the world to fight for the health disparity existing between the rich and the poor
If you could go anywhere in the world for a day where would you go and why?
I would go to Cairo, Egypt to discover the Egyptian pyramids.
What career would you like to pursue after graduation? Why?
I would like to pursue M.D./Ph.D. program after graduation. I want to apply the scientific method in research because understanding what is happening at the molecular level, I believe that we can make new discoveries that will improve the quality of life for people. In addition, with the scientific knowledge, I will be able to solve real-life problems in patient-care.
What characteristics does it take to become a great leader?
A great leader needs to haveselfless devotion and willingness to help people from their sufferings.
Name one person you admire? Why?
The person I admire the most is Aung San Suu Kyi because she sacrifices her own happiness to fight for democracy in Myanmar. She believes that through her struggle, an entire nation could have the right to seek human rights and true happiness.
Who has been your most influential professor and why?
My most influential professor is Dr. Waimin Liu, a physics professor at Pasadena City College. He always tells his students that we must never forget people who have helped us. He once said that he pursues a career in teaching because he wants to pay back to Americans in the same way that they have done to him, when he first arrived in the United States.
Which is the one television character that you simply adore?
Gregory House.
What are the three most played songs on your iPod?
You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift), Thank You (Dido), and Not Afraid (Enimen).
If given a choice, which animal would you want to be? Why?
I would want to be a puppy because they are very cute and everyone loves them.
Have you traveled outside of the United States? If so, where?
No.
Which is the funniest prank played on you or played by you?
At one summer camp, one of the members put on make-up with very black eye shadow and bright red lipsticks. With a candle in his hand, he woke me up and scared me!
What does being a member of Mortar Board mean to you?
Mortar Board has given me the passion to succeed, confidence to lead, and motivation to contribute to society.
