UA not a big adjustment for Bolivian student
Profile on the Hill
Candel Fisher
Issue date: 10/27/06 Section: News
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Jhonny An Kwon, a freshman at the UA, said his dream is to earn his degree in industrial engineering and travel the world for a while.
"I want to travel to Italy, France, Portugal, and of course Spain," Kwon said.
"There are several universities in Bolivia, but they are definitely not as good as here," he said.
"I chose industrial engineering for a reason," Kwon said. "I want to work in a lot of things, and this particular major opens a lot of doors," he said.
Kwon's father, Suk Won An, is an industrial engineer in Bolivia.
Kwon said his father owns a company in La Paz, but he would like to gain some experience before working with him.
Whenever he arrived in Arkansas, Kwon said he distinctly remembers how beautiful the drive was to campus. "It [the campus] is really pretty," he said, "the campus is so big, it is like one huge neighborhood."
La Paz, Kwon's childhood home, is located in central South America, southwest of Brazil. It is the administrative capital of Bolivia and has the highest altitude of any capitol in the world.
The city, which is described by some as "one of the most intoxicating cities in the world," is situated in the valley of Chuquiago Marka and perched 12,000 feet above sea level.
"You can see the blue sky there," Kwon said. "There are parts in La Paz made for beautiful site-viewing."
Kwon said he thinks that La Paz is influenced by modern culture since it is a third world country.
"My city is somewhat traditional, but everyone is not like that," Kwon said.
While 60 percent of Bolivians speak Spanish, Quechua and Aymara (the pre-Inca language) are still spoken as well.
Kwon's first language is Spanish, but he is extremely fluent in English. Kwon attended the American Cooperative School, a college preparatory school offering a North American education enabling its graduates to enter universities in the United States, Canada, Europe and Latin America.
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