EMPRESS

About me: I am an avid traveler. I love traveling and going to places I have never been before. Fun fact: According to the TripAdvisor "Cities I've Visited," I've visited 17% of the world. When I'm not traveling or planning for my next trip, I enjoy going out to eat and going to theme parks or the beach. I am also addicted to shopping (and I'm not particularly proud of this, but it's who I am). During the school year, you'll see me mostly pulling all-nighters at the library, in line at Starbucks, in class, at meetings, at my internship, or at work as a resident assistant. I was the public relations chair for Gators for UNICEF! I am super passionate about UNICEF, and philanthropy in general. Also, I aspire to lead the corporate philanthropy effort of a company. I am a busy bee, but I'm so used to this lifestyle that I get bored if I have nothing to do. Oh, and I take a lot of naps, too.

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Why EMPRESS? As an international student from Indonesia and city girl who had attended private schools all her life (graduated high school with less than fifty people in my class), going to UF was a huge step for me. This might be cliché, but I was looking forward to the stereotypical "college life" experience of going to football games, gaining the "Freshman 15", and living my best life. Having lived in big cities all my life, a change of scenery was what I wanted. So, going to UF, a school of about 50,000 students in Gainesville, a college town in the middle of nowhere, was a BIG change for me. However, what I had not anticipated was how hard it actually was to find where I truly belonged; you don't instantly become best friends with the person you sit next to in class, or even your roommate. And then, I came across EMPRESS. I really liked what the sisterhood stands for, and decided to give it a go. After attending the first recruitment event, I instantly felt a sense of belonging with these group of strong, independent, and individualistic ladies. And their genuineness, diversity, and acceptance made me stay. I was so sure from the beginning that this sisterhood and the sisters are the kind of people I want to be surrounded with. And for the first time since I had come to UF, I felt like I truly belong.

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Favorite EMPRESS memory: Honestly, it's really hard to choose my favorite memory with EMPRESS, because it has been such a big part of my life ever since I came to UF. But if I really had to choose, my favorite memory with EMPRESS would be when we all went to Beque Holic for senior banquet in Fall 2017. I am a strong believer that it's the little things that matter. We had our Secret Santa event and we spent the whole night eating and just having fun. I remembered that I was so happy to be surrounded by people who truly mattered to me, and I love Korean BBQ so that's a plus.