The 75 Books Team

 

Marycarmen Montanez (she/her)

I am a senior at CMC majoring in Psychology and History. I was born and raised in Anaheim, CA and I still carry my library card from 1st grade in my wallet (even though my local library has already given me the adult one). Books have always played a meaningful part of my life. Growing up, I spent Saturdays in my local library, entering and leaving with a different stack of books each week. Even though life has gotten a lot more chaotic since then, I still do my best to squeeze in as much reading as I can. I am most definitely not the only person whose life has been marked by the power of books and readings, so I am ecstatic to be leading the 75 Books Project and learning about which books have impacted the lives of our CMC community along the way.

Axel Ahdritz (he/him)

I'm a Swedish student from Westchester, NY studying Data Science and Literature at CMC with a focus on NLP applications. That which fascinates me most about books in general are their ability to reify the abstract notions of language—narratives, emotions, philosophy, etc—into discrete objects that can be referred to as if they were people. As the lead interviewer and camera-guy of this project, you'll probably see me around conducting interviews on campus!

Flora Li (she/her)

I am a junior studying philosophy at CMC. I read all kinds of books in my spare time, from serious philosophy classics to “how to write stand-up comedy” just to fulfill my random curiosity. It’s a pleasure to work with 75 books team and I look forward to knowing more about the books that people are going to talk to us about!

 

Yaqin Zhang (she/her)

I am a junior at CMC majoring in Philosophy, Public Affairs and Data Science. Reading always gives me a chance to explore everything in the world, breaking the wall to language, geography, time, and social separation. I am the website designer of this project. Super excited to join the team and good to see everyone on campus!

Andrea Posada (she/her)

I’m a freshman here at CMC, majoring in Psychology. I’m from Dallas, Texas, so unfortunately I had to leave my book collection back home. I loved to read a lot when I was in elementary and middle school, and recently started reading again this past year. Reading is one of the few things I can do where I can focus my entire attention without getting bored or distracted, so it’s always been really easy for me to just sit and read. My favorite genre is Young Adult novels (I recently reread the Twilight saga) but I’m excited to learn more of other genres and hopefully also read those books as well. I’m very excited to be working on the 75 Books Project and meeting people connected to CMC!

 

Nicolas Burtson (he/him)

I am a sophomore at CMC with an undecided major that will probably contain philosophy. I love reading because it has always been a way for me to explore new ways of understanding and thinking about the world. I am excited to work with the 75 books team and to get the chance to hear about so many different books and experiences!

Fai Tangkaravakoon (she/her)

I am a freshman at CMC majoring in Psychology and History. To me, books open doors to fascinating minds. It is an entertaining way to learn more about the world. I can learn about 19th-century museums, aesthetic definitions of art, and how to get better sleep from the comfort of my room. I am delighted to join the team and explore the different books that have shaped our community!