In our third installment of the Fuquans series, we are introducing six more of our amazing classmates and learning more about who they are.

This time, we spoke to a former show choir member, an artist, a former Lion from Columbia University, two best friends, and an athlete. We found it amazing how people from such different backgrounds and with varying interests could come together to form part of the tight-knit Fuqua community.

Let’s meet and learn more about Jonathan, Inna, Tashi, Yan, Alice, and Zach…

Jonathan Pun

“I am definitely going to miss the people I’ve gotten close to, seeing them everyday. Everyone is so international which is really cool, and I don’t know when I’m going to see them again. I cried the other day because of this. I thought about it and I cried.

I always want to grow. I always try to look for different opportunities and to not stay complacent. I know what it feels like to stay static and not do anything. It’s important to try new things and expand.

In high school, I was in a show choir, and we ended up spending half a million dollars every year to put on a show. That’s probably one thing my friends here might not know about me yet…”

Inna Stashenko

“I’ll definitely miss Professor Mark Brown, because I think he is the most awesome teacher that I’ve had so far and I really appreciate how honest he is. He gives very constructive feedback. This is something that I’ve noticed that Americans don’t usually do, They’ll tell you things that you want to hear. But he is not like that. The main thing I appreciate in people is being honest, being direct and not being hypocritical.

If you know what you want from your life, do whatever you need to do. And be a really good person. Always be honest for your friends. Try to help your friends. This is my motto and this is what I try to do every time I get into a group of people and become a teammate. There are so many things that I really don’t care about, but this is something I think is really important. Just be yourself, don’t be a hypocrite, be honest, and help the people that you love. I have some good friends here, and I just predict that on the day of graduation I’ll cry because of this.

Being a financial analyst and a very Excel oriented person, I try to be creative. I had the possibility to finish art school, several years ago. Of course I’m an amateur but I want to become a real artist. I want to try to develop in this field. I want to open an electronic gallery with my paintings very soon. I’m very excited about it.”

Tashi Lama

“I’m going to miss the people here the most. I came from a very individualistic college. And I really value the community focus here. Fuqua is very inspirational and very different from what my undergraduate experience was like. I feel like the Team Fuqua spirit is what has made me grow this year.

Do what makes you happy and pursue your passions. We’re all in our own race. I mean, it’s not a race but we’re all pursuing our own paths to happiness.”

Yi Alice Wang and Yan Zheng

Yan: “I will miss the diversified environment, because after this I will go back to China. I will have a simple life, but not a diversified one. I will not be able to easily talk to people from different cultures, and I will not be able to work on different projects. And I will not be able to learn from different professors.”

Alice: “I’ll miss my state of mind right now. Right now, I have a really light mood, I’m very curious to learn about different things and people. I’m not sure if once I start working, I’ll stay young and curious. I want to keep doing that for the rest of my career. When you’re young, go travel, meet different people and see different things. You will find out more about yourself through the process.”

Yan: “Choose wisely, the kind of people you spend time with. Whether it is your boyfriend or girlfriend or friends, because spending time with the wrong people makes your life worse.”

Alice: “But being friends with people like me makes life meaningful, right, Yan?”

Yan: “Alice is amazing. A good way to waste your time.”

Alice: “Yan is an amazing friend. Being friends with him makes me happy. I think in the future, when we experience bad times in our lives, we’ll be the first people we think to reach out to.”

Zach Boden

“I’m going to miss meeting all sorts of people from all over the world. I never really got that opportunity playing athletics in college, both at Harvard and at Duke. I didn’t really get to meet people from everywhere else, and I really enjoyed that about the MMS program. I didn’t get to travel a lot. I’ve mostly been stuck in the U.S. Not only do you have the opportunity to meet new people, you’re forced to meet new people. Because of the team atmosphere. I’m really going to miss that.

If you’re going to do something—whatever it is—you might as well do it at 100 miles an hour. I didn’t think I’d get into Duke when I wanted to transfer in as an undergrad. But I worked really hard on my application, and it worked out.”