Meet Paula Tang - Intern With the Office of Race Relations

Hello, my name is Pisudtiporn Tangsirisatian—but that’s a mouthful, so just call me Paula! I am an ABC, or American-Born Chai (Chinese-Thai). Leaving Chicago at only five months old, I grew up in monocultural, Buddhist-dominant Thailand in the capital city of Bangkok, and then moved to Michigan to further my education at Calvin University in Grand Rapids.

I am pursuing a B.A. in psychology and a minor in ministry leadership (with an emphasis on youth ministry) and considering a future in prison ministry. I see myself in the future working for adolescents or college-age youth on the margins. More or less, my dream is to work alongside marginalized voices such that it glorifies God through my self-transcendent life goal: I want to do for others what others have done for me by trusting God always, being content and finding joy even amid hardships, and forming lasting and impactful relationships.

I am currently participating in a Calvin University-sponsored program called Jubilee Fellows, designed to help students on their journey of discerning their calling in ministry. As someone who is interested in helping people on the margins, I became interested in working with Race Relations in its antiracism work toward racial reconciliation.

I believe that as children of God, we all are given a responsibility to restore justice in this broken world alongside and under the care of our just and merciful God. Simply put, it’s a basic human courtesy to understand how to live and empower peaceably. Growing up in a monocultural country, I am aware of my lack of experience and knowledge as an international minority/outsider to the historic and cultural roots of racism in America. Through interning at Race Relations, I want to better learn how to converse and engage in active antiracism efforts and apply it to the ministry context, especially from a congregational role in the church.

As the youngest of three daughters, I grew up doing what my sisters did: reading and listening to music. My love for reading started with the Warriors series by Erin Hunter, and I still love to curl up with a good book outside on a warm, windy day or inside on a couch during a thunderstorm. Admittedly, I am less of an avid reader than I was before as I also love cooking, hanging out with friends, drawing, writing letters, and, more recently, listening to audiobooks.