Rina Pheng is an incoming First Year student at Northwestern University. Rina grew up in Kompheim Village, about 20 kilometers from the Angkor Wat Temple of Siem Reap province of Cambodia. Rina was raised by her mother and father along with two younger siblings, her parents working as farmers. When Rina was four years old, she was selected and awarded a scholarship to study at Jay Pritzker Academy. Rina was excited by the opportunity to study at American based school funded by an NGO from America, where she got the opportunity to study English from a young age.

Due to her academic achievements and high GPA, Rina received the opportunity from JPA to go on a trip to Adelaide, Australia. She got the opportunity to study at a local school and stayed with a host family for 6 weeks. Rina ended up joining many Model United Nation (MUN) conferences in Phnom Penh, Cambodia which enriched her experience in solving world issues as representatives of various nations. Throughout her years of studying, she completed and led two community service projects: planting a garden of vegetables for a rural community and teaching English to children. Years later, Rina was part of the student council as a class representative. Upon graduation from JPA, she was awarded the class valedictorian for her academic excellence.

Rina hopes to help individuals with neurological disorders integrate into society and change people’s perceptions about them in Cambodia. She also aspires to learn more about the environment to help prevent and solve pollution problems that can are affecting the well-being of people everywhere.