The Mac Weekly

Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Kristin Riegel

Meet Will Chow '11. He's an International Studies major, an anthropology minor, and one of the guys who has helped to make Asian Pacific Awareness month a success. With a motto of "don't take life too seriously," he manages to work hard and play hard, all while keeping his sense of humor. This week, The Mac Weekly sits down to talk to Will about where he grew up and why he now considers Macalester home.

The Mac Weekly: Where are you from?
Will Chow: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma but I actually grew up in Southern California.

From So Cal to Oklahoma. Those are pretty different places. Why did your family decide to move?
I think my dad got tired of having his car stolen. Once, I actually saw my dad's car in a police chase on television. I remember seeing my dad in an interview about it on the nighttime local news and thinking there's my dad, and there's his car being chased by a bunch of cops. But mostly, I think my parents chose Oklahoma because my dad went to college there and he really liked it.

Wow, I can't believe your dad's car was in a police chase. Do you remember a lot about it? Did you tell your friends at school about it?
It was completely surreal. I was only a kid but even then I knew that it was completely messed up.

After living in three states, which is your favorite?
Not going to say it's my flat out favorite but I'd say I like Minnesota a lot except for the weather. The people are really cool and there's actually a distinct culture. There's also the whole "Minnesota nice" thing going on, which I like a lot. It also has a good music scene. All of the bands that I have wanted to see have actually come here.

After almost two years at college, at Macalester, has this experience been everything you expected?
I have really enjoyed my time at Macalester. Compared to my friends at home who go to state schools, I feel that I've grown the most out of all them. All the people at college in Oklahoma say that it's just like high school but with more, umm, "college activities." But for me, it's been a huge growing experience.

Any favorite memories so far?
There's so many. The first real memory that I cherish is one during my first week at Mac. It was the first Friday and people were winding down from activities of the night. There was kind of this informal concert in the hallway on Turck 3. Most of the people who lived there were sitting along the walls of the hallway, close together, chilling when a couple people came out into the hallway with guitars. So yea, there it was, a bunch of people who didn't know each other sitting around talking and singing along to Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dispatch, and Sufjan. And then my friend Miles, in this wide-eyed, dramatic way proclaims, "This moment is defining my life right now." It was kind of over the top and people laughed but then again I felt that everyone was kind of feeling the same way.

Continued...

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