Marci Kang ’10 isn’t a big fan of cold weather. She is keen on small class sizes, soccer, and science—three key factors that led this chemistry major from Honolulu to choose Occidental.

Coming from a high school with an average class size of 15, Marci was eager for the intimacy of a small college. “I wanted to get to know the people I went to school with and not see new faces every day. The small class sizes also enabled me to have better relationships with my professors,” says Marci, who worked in her organic chemistry professor’s lab during her first year at Oxy. The rapport she has with faculty also helps her soccer game, like the time a professor allowed her to take a midterm at Claremont McKenna College right before a semifinal match held there.

Balancing soccer with her science classes is challenging, but Marci finds her coaches “extremely accommodating. They understand that we are here for academics first and then athletics. During the season this year, I was late to every Tuesday and Thursday practice because I had labs that finished at the same time that soccer practice started,” she says. But this did not deter her from earning All-league second team honors.

During the off-season, Marci participates in Oxy’s Asian American Tutorial Project mentoring elementary school students in Chinatown. You might also find her in Old Town Pasadena enjoying dinner or simply hanging out on campus with her quadmates watching movies. And with her twin brother also at Oxy, family is never too far.