Thai Scholar: Nat Sothanaphan the Bangkok Boy

Coming from Bangkok, Thailand, one might expect senior Nat Sothanaphan to be the kind of international student that struggles with American culture.

That would be a mistake.

Sothanaphan has been quick to adjust to the American lifestyle and has formed many a friendship among the Exeter community, all the while excelling at academics.

Each year, Exeter embraces two Thai scholars who were top-ranked intellectuals from their respective high schools in Thailand. Each of the intellectuals take a government-run test to determine their academic aptitudes. After a rigorous selection process, only a handful are selected as the King Scholars.

As one of the two Thai scholars that came this year, Sothanaphan has established himself as an intellectual powerhouse. Like all international students whose native tongue isn’t English, Sothanaphan initially had some trouble with life at Exeter.

Modern languages instructor Mark Trafton, who is also a dorm faculty member of Dutch House, recalled first meeting Sothanaphan in the dorm.

“My first impression of him was someone who was learning a new culture and not completely comfortable with the English language, but also someone who was extremely intelligent, and willing to learn, and very kind and considerate,” Trafton said.

Trafton noted the dramatic changes in Sothanaphan since the beginning of the year, especially with familiarity with the English language.

“As a language teacher, his comfort with colloquial English, I don’t have to think of the words I use anymore. Like ‘Have you been hanging out at the baseball field?’ or ‘You seem to be really into frisbee, are you getting psyched to play a game against another school?’ Expressions like that are things that he wouldn’t get back in September. That’s one thing that I found remarkable,” he said.

Fellow Dutch House senior Chinedum Egbosimba observed Sothanaphan’s assimilation into the dorm life.

“He plays poker with the people in the dorm. At the start he wasn’t sure of himself but over time he’s come out more to join us and other dorm activities,” Egbosimba said. “He took up hockey last year. He had never played hockey before and he signed up for the club team, and Ms. Marshall, the dorm faculty, coaches club hockey.”

Egsosimba is also an international student from Nigeria. Reflecting on his own acculturation into American culture, he found Sothanaphan’s ability to adjust impressive.

“I feel like he came here willing to embrace other cultures apart from the one he was used to. That was a really admirable trait, because I know when I came here first because I was terrified about getting used to the American culture, and he jumped right in,” he said.

In class, Sothanaphan is regarded as an intelligent student with a passion to learn.

“What stood him out in his class was his determination,” history instructor Kwasi Boadi said.

Boadi continued about how Nat did not let his language barrier get in the way of his learning in class. “It was apparent early on that he was quite conscious of the challenge he faced in expressing himself fluently, but he never let that stand in his way, “ Boadi noted. Although speaking fluently was a challenge to Sothanaphan in the beginning of the year, Sothanaphan was able to overcome the challenge through his perseverance and diligence.

One of Sothanaphan’s academic strengths is mathematics. Sothanaphan has done much to explore his passion and exercise his talent in the field.

“I have been attending the Math Olympiad camp when I was in Thailand and went to the International Math Olympiad at Argentina,” he said.

Sothanaphan managed to get a silver medal for Thailand at the competition, after many weeks of training and hard work.

As part of the Academy’s math team, Sothanaphan participated in various competitions, with great success.

“At Exeter, I participated in Math competitions such as AMC [American Mathematics Competition] which I got high enough score to go to the next round. I also got the Top 10 award in algebra in HMMT competition [Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament],” he said.

Commonly seen in the Peer Tutoring room, Sothanaphan is regarded as an earnest and approachable tutor. “He is always smiling and I don't think I've ever seen him in a bad mood,” Peer Tutoring adviser Pamela Parris said.

Parris also observed Sothanaphan’s improvement in the English language as part of the Transition to Harkness program and mentioned how he contributed to the peer tutoring program at Exeter. “In his shy way, he has helped as a peer tutor since he is approachable and low key. His English was, understandably, hesitant at first, but he has made huge progress.”

After one year at the Academy, Sothanaphan hopes to pursue his interests further in college.

“I want to study math and comp sci further at college especially at MIT, which I just got accepted on March 14 this year.”

Finding Sothanaphan’s traits admirable, Parris felt that he would do well after graduating.

“I'm sure Nat will find success in college,” she said. “He is a solid, motivated and utterly dependable student who will figure out what he wants and go after it.”

Trafton, who has had several Thai scholars in his dorm in past years, found Sothanaphan’s acculturation especially remarkable.

“Nat has been in many ways for a role model to how to acculturate into a new place with new culture and new languages; a place with new customs. He’s done extremely well and I’m going to miss him,” he said.