An Interview With Panya Amphone
Panya Amphone, a student at Friends University, is an interviewee for the English Club's social media campaign #PeopleOfFriends. Thank you, Panya!
Describe yourself in 100 words or fewer.
“Inclusive of others, confident within reason, comfortable with myself, large and in charge.”
What do you like the most about Friends?
“My favorite part about Friends University would have to be the community aspect. Just being involved with different departments and still having a feeling that you’re connected all the way throughout campus is really supportive and reassuring and it just feels really nice.”
Speaking of being involved on campus, you are involved in a lot.
“I sure am! I am in the Singing Quakers. I am a student worker here in the fine arts office. I’m a music major. I’m music education, so I live in both departments. And then I’m also math, so I live in the science building, so I’m taking science classes. My minor is in science, by the way.
"Extracurricularly, I’m a Singing Quaker, I’m in Community Orchestra, Symphonette Orchestra, which is like our chamber ensemble, and then I’m in Mu Phi Epsilon, which is our music fraternity. I’m the state president for the Collegiate NAFME, which is the National Association For Music Educators, Chapter of Kansas. So I’m the state president for all of Kansas and a former chapter president here at the university’s chapter.
"Let’s see, what else do I do? I’m the president of the Symphonette Orchestra. I am the treasurer for Singing Quakers. I do a lot. It’s just too much to keep track of!
"Oh! I’m in Arabesque Society. I don’t know how that happened, but I ended up in Arabesque Society, so that’s a thing. But yeah, I’ve just served in a lot of random capacities across campus and I just do random stuff.”
What brought you here to Friends?
“Well, I was a student at Newman prior to coming to Friends and I didn’t have the greatest experience over there. I got laryngitis and Dr. Bartel called me and recruited me to be in Singing Quakers.
"He had been recruiting me since my sophomore year of high school but then, it was really funny. He actually called me while I was enrolling at Newman. Like, I was enrolling at Newman for classes and Dr. Bartel called me and was like ‘Are you still interested in Friends?’ and I was like, ‘I wish! I mean, I am but I can’t afford to.’
"But after my freshman year, I transferred because I hated the music program at Newman and now I’m here.
"I enjoy Friends. The violin professor here at Friends was actually the violin professor at Newman at the same time [I was attending Newman] and so she was the one who really pushed me to re-audition during my first semester and audit music theory and do all that stuff. So really, I have to credit the violin professor Shelly Graves for kicking my butt into gear and getting me over across the street.”
What [of all the things you do on campus] do you think is your greatest contribution to Friends University?
“I’ve worked in the fine arts office for about three years now and besides the working and behind-the-scenes work we do in this office, I think that I’ve contributed a lot of general leadership to the university.
"And I don’t want to sound conceited like, ‘Oh, you know, I’m a leader,’ but, you know, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to lead and I think that just being here for so long, because this is my fifth year at the university, I’ve been able to guide underclassmen to get what they want from the university or to get more out of their experience here at the university and I think that’s been my greatest contribution.”
What is one thing you want to tell the people of Friends University, Wichita, and the world?
“I think something, just good general advice to anybody, is that being the change you want to see is the biggest thing that you can do for yourself. If you want to see a community change or you want to see something else change, I think that initiative starts with you because nobody is going to just do it while you sit back. Of course, if you want something done, you have to do it yourself. I think that goes for both negative and positive changes, but that is the source: your initiation of whatever you do.
"My advice would be to be the change you want to see in yourself, in your community, in the world.”
Describe yourself in 100 words or fewer.
“Inclusive of others, confident within reason, comfortable with myself, large and in charge.”
What do you like the most about Friends?
“My favorite part about Friends University would have to be the community aspect. Just being involved with different departments and still having a feeling that you’re connected all the way throughout campus is really supportive and reassuring and it just feels really nice.”
Speaking of being involved on campus, you are involved in a lot.
“I sure am! I am in the Singing Quakers. I am a student worker here in the fine arts office. I’m a music major. I’m music education, so I live in both departments. And then I’m also math, so I live in the science building, so I’m taking science classes. My minor is in science, by the way.
"Extracurricularly, I’m a Singing Quaker, I’m in Community Orchestra, Symphonette Orchestra, which is like our chamber ensemble, and then I’m in Mu Phi Epsilon, which is our music fraternity. I’m the state president for the Collegiate NAFME, which is the National Association For Music Educators, Chapter of Kansas. So I’m the state president for all of Kansas and a former chapter president here at the university’s chapter.
"Let’s see, what else do I do? I’m the president of the Symphonette Orchestra. I am the treasurer for Singing Quakers. I do a lot. It’s just too much to keep track of!
"Oh! I’m in Arabesque Society. I don’t know how that happened, but I ended up in Arabesque Society, so that’s a thing. But yeah, I’ve just served in a lot of random capacities across campus and I just do random stuff.”
What brought you here to Friends?
“Well, I was a student at Newman prior to coming to Friends and I didn’t have the greatest experience over there. I got laryngitis and Dr. Bartel called me and recruited me to be in Singing Quakers.
"He had been recruiting me since my sophomore year of high school but then, it was really funny. He actually called me while I was enrolling at Newman. Like, I was enrolling at Newman for classes and Dr. Bartel called me and was like ‘Are you still interested in Friends?’ and I was like, ‘I wish! I mean, I am but I can’t afford to.’
"But after my freshman year, I transferred because I hated the music program at Newman and now I’m here.
"I enjoy Friends. The violin professor here at Friends was actually the violin professor at Newman at the same time [I was attending Newman] and so she was the one who really pushed me to re-audition during my first semester and audit music theory and do all that stuff. So really, I have to credit the violin professor Shelly Graves for kicking my butt into gear and getting me over across the street.”
What [of all the things you do on campus] do you think is your greatest contribution to Friends University?
“I’ve worked in the fine arts office for about three years now and besides the working and behind-the-scenes work we do in this office, I think that I’ve contributed a lot of general leadership to the university.
"And I don’t want to sound conceited like, ‘Oh, you know, I’m a leader,’ but, you know, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to lead and I think that just being here for so long, because this is my fifth year at the university, I’ve been able to guide underclassmen to get what they want from the university or to get more out of their experience here at the university and I think that’s been my greatest contribution.”
What is one thing you want to tell the people of Friends University, Wichita, and the world?
“I think something, just good general advice to anybody, is that being the change you want to see is the biggest thing that you can do for yourself. If you want to see a community change or you want to see something else change, I think that initiative starts with you because nobody is going to just do it while you sit back. Of course, if you want something done, you have to do it yourself. I think that goes for both negative and positive changes, but that is the source: your initiation of whatever you do.
"My advice would be to be the change you want to see in yourself, in your community, in the world.”
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