The International Center Interns

Campus Friends team

Kazane Okuda bio picture

Kazane Okuda

Hello, everyone! I am Kazane Okuda in the Campus Friends team. I am an exchange student from Osaka, Japan. I was born in Osaka but raised in Okinawa. I like knitting, listening to pop and country music, and watching action movies. I am excited to meet new people and talk a lot! I’m looking forward to meeting you!

Lily Townsen bio pic

Lily Townsen

Hello my name is Lily , and I am part of the Campus Friends team. I am an accounting student and am a junior. I like music and photography, among other things. Stop by the IC and say “Hey.” I look forward to meeting you.

Engage the World team

Ruiting (Carrie) Wang bio picture

Carrie Wang

Hi, everyone! My name is Ruiting (Carrie) Wang, a visiting doctoral student from China, majoring in Hospitality Business Management. My MBTI personality type is INFP. I’m a 66.78% dog person and 33.22% cat person (don’t ask me how I calculated that), love all the fur babies in the world! In my free time, I enjoy hiking, watching American TV series, listening to podcasts, and capturing life through photography. I’m so excited to work with all of you in my last semester at WSU. Please feel free to come and talk with me anytime!

Events team

Yiyuan “Arthur” Jia

Hi! My name is Yiyuan Jia, but please feel free to call me Arthur. I’m from Tianjin, China. I’m a third-year psychology student here at WSU. My interest mainly lies in science and technology, but I have also acquainted myself with a variety of other things, such as history, culture, and languages. In my free time, my favorite activity is to consume all kinds of science-fiction-related contents. I hope we can get along and talk about nerdy stuff! 

Aqila Laksmana bio pic

Kaz Laksmana

Hello, my name is Aqilah Silvia Laksmana from the Event Planners team — I prefer to be called Kaz. I’m an international student from Jakarta, Indonesia — on my second year pursuing a bachelor’s degree in zoology. I enjoy listening to music, especially the band Lovejoy, playing rhythm games, and watching slasher movies – my favourite is Halloween, the one with Michael Myers! Feel free to stop by at the IC and chat with me if you’d like!

Khushi Panchal bio pic

Khushi Panchal

Namaste everyone, I am Khushi Panchal and I’m on the Event planners team. I’m essentially from India and studying computer science at WSU. I like to explore and learn about new stuff. I’m interested in outer space and learning about galaxies out there. But other than that I like to swim and play pickleball and chess. You can always come to me if you ever feel like you wanna hang out or you need someone to talk to. Let’s make WSU a happy place <3.

Friends and Family team

Yunoka Watanabe bio picture

Yunoka Watanabe

Hello everyone! I’m Yunoka Watanabe from Japan. I’m a senior majoring in psychology and human development. I love traveling. Let me know your favorite places in your city or country. I’ll add them to my travel destination list! I’m looking forward to seeing you.

Ginji Watari headshot

Ginji Watari

Hello, I’m Ginji and I’m a senior majoring in management information systems. I’m also from San Jose, California. When I’m not busy with school, I like to play video games and hang out with friends. A fun fact about me is that I used to be an international student from the Philippines when I moved to the U.S. 8 years ago.

Marketing and Multimedia team

Janie Chu bio picture

Janie Chu

Hi! My name is Janie and I’m an intern on the multimedia team. I’m from Taipei, Taiwan, and I’m studying public relations here. I enjoy watching movies, cafe hopping, and hanging out with my friends! I’m also a magazine editor, so if you want to publish your work but don’t know how and where, just let me know!

Ella Hsieh headshot

Ella Hsieh

Hey! I’m Ella from Taiwan, and I’m on the multimedia team this year. I am majoring in interior design and minoring in psychology, but I would say I’m strongest and most interested in the fields dealing with visual art or music. Looking forward to meeting you all! 😉

Lauren Kimler bio picture

Lauren Kimler

Hello! My name is Lauren and I am interning on the marketing and multimedia team! I am a senior at WSU majoring in Strategic Communication and Political Science. My hometown is Clarkston, Washington. I am very interested in the environment and will be attending law school with the goal of becoming an environmental attorney. During my free time I enjoy hiking, camping, and exploring new areas. Go Cougs! 

alex madsen bio picture

Alex Madsen

Hi, Cougs! I’m Alex Madsen, a marketing- communications intern. I am from Great Falls, Montana, and here in Pullman studying Public Relations! I enjoy all things outside like fishing, boating, hiking, and tanning. I love all types of music and work with KUGR college radio on their PR and productions team, and am a radio DJ and sports announcer!

melanie nguyen bio picture

Melanie Nguyen

Hi everyone, I am Melanie Nguyen in the marketing and communication intern team. I’m from Vietnam and living in Seattle, Washington. I am majoring in digital technology and culture. I enjoy watching movies, taking pictures, listening to music, and editing. I look forward to meeting you all!

Emily Tseng bio picture

Emily Tseng

I’m Emily, a marketing-communications intern. I’m majoring in Digital Technology and Culture. In my spare time I enjoy catching up with my family and friends, drawing, and playing the piano and violin. A fun fact about me is that I was born in Kirkland, Washington, but raised in Taipei, Taiwan. I am looking forward to being part of the International Center and I am so excited to be able to work with and meet new people!

Dependent programming

yesli pena rodriguez headshot

Yesli Peña-Rodriguez

Hello everyone my name is Yesli. I was born and raised in Wenatchee, Washington. Currently, I am pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English with a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate and a Spanish minor. Apart from being an intern, I’m a mentor in the Asian American Pacific Islanders Student Center (CUB 414), so go up there to mingle with me and other domestic students! In my free time I like to go to the gym, go to concerts, travel, and hang out with my friends. I speak English, Spanish, and some French and Korean, so feel free to talk to me! I look forward to meeting you all!