Michael Lee ’05 had played French horn since the fifth grade and was ready to try something new. His sister urged him to audition for the Glee Club after he transferred to Occidental from Willamette. There was just one problem: he’d never had any formal training as a singer.

“But I tried out anyway,” says Michael, who earned a degree in chemistry. “It was a great way to get to know 50 people right away.” He toured locally and through Eastern Europe with what he calls “a family.”

Today, Michael takes part in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET), teaching English to elementary and junior high school students in Yoshino-cho, Japan. He wants to live abroad before applying to medical school in 2006.

At Occidental, Michael – a recipient of a Goldwater Scholarship -- did research with award-winning Professor Phoebe Dea.  He spent one of his summer breaks doing research in the radiation/oncology department at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Los Angeles. “As much as I enjoyed doing research as an undergrad, I decided that I’m more interested in how the it pertains to people. Studying the liberal arts is definitely good preparation for a doctor. You get a better understanding of human interaction and the world as a whole."

Michael’s work with the Glee Club and as a teaching assistant and math facilitator kept him busy during the week. But on weekends he liked to take advantage of Occidental’s location. “Sometimes I went running on Santa Monica Beach.  Another thing I like is the diversity of food.  You can get really good Mexican, Korean, Chinese food…you can find whatever you want."