Project: UIC Snapshots (ft. Leonie Pai)

An interview with Leonie Pai, Class of 2021.5.

What has been the biggest culture shock you’ve experienced since coming to Korea?

Nothing was really that shocking, because I’ve been to Asia before and I knew what I was getting myself into. Though what stood out to me were the people - who I thought would be more foreigner-friendly here. Not to mention that taxi drivers here are wild.

What are you most looking forward to for your second semester at UIC?

Hopefully going back to in-person classes, potentially having a roommate. Just living the real college life. Right now the restrictions, especially in the dorms, make everything feel dull.

If you had to choose a song that best represents your life right now, what would it be and why?

I think it would have to be “We Are” by ONE OK ROCK. The song is about how external influences always look down on others’ achievements, and how we as individuals have to stand up for ourselves and show people what we are capable of. There’s a line that goes: “They think we are made up of all our failures” and I can apply that line to myself. The song reminds me that I eventually have to get through everything and that I will, but the biggest challenge to overcome is what the voice in my head says.