Mr. Alexander Lim speaks to AUPP students

The American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP) was proud to host four visiting scholars from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Saturday, July 12, 2014. Mr. Alexander Spencer Lim, a Cambodian-American scholar at MIT, gave a presentation entitled Sharing Experience as a First Generation Cambodian-American Student at MIT.

Alexander Spencer Lim is a candidate for a BS in Biological Engineering with a minor in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, one of the world’s most prestigious higher educational institutions. He is also an undergraduate researcher at the McGovern Institute for Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

Mr. Lim received several academic honors in 2012, including the Khmer Parent Association Southeast Asian Scholarship, awarded to ASEAN students who have demonstrated academic excellence and outstanding community services.

Following Mr. Lim’s presentation, AUPP students participated in a question and answer session with other MIT scholars Maya Ramachandran, Dana Vigue, and Jessica Torres. Topics included the research projects and general interests of the MIT scholars, the challenge of balancing the demands of a rigorous academic curriculum with a healthy social life, and maintaining personal relationships with friends and family while attending a university located far from home.

After the question and answer session, students broke into small groups and continued informal discussions on a variety of topics ranging from academics to the cultural differences between the United States and Cambodia.

“The students at AUPP were incredibly kindhearted, friendly, and genuinely happy,” Alexander Lim said following the event, “I will never forget my visit – everyone was smiling; this is the image that will be associated in my head whenever I hear about AUPP.”