Giovani Anggasta, a junior studying Interior Design, is Chinese and is from Indonesia. Her name is Italian, given to her by her mother.
“She found it in a book,” Anggasta said, laughing. “I guess she thinks it’s a girl’s name. I always complain about it to her.”
Anggasta is a transfer student, coming to Moore from the Community College of Philadelphia. An older sister was already studying at Drexel University, and their mother wanted them to be in close proximity.
“I checked out some schools kind of far away, but my parents and I like Philly,” she said. Anggasta learned about Moore from a classmate at CCP, took a tour and liked the modern campus and smaller class sizes.
A KNACK FOR ART
Born in Samarinda, Borneo, and raised in the capital city of Jakarta, Anggasta is third-generation Indonesian, and both her parents are Chinese.
“My ancestors are from China, but I’ve lived in Indonesia all my life,” she said. “I speak Indonesian, not Chinese.” Anggasta can also speak some of the traditional language called Javanese. She has a Chinese name that she uses only for legal purposes. Everyone in her family has different last names, which she says is not unusual for Chinese living in Indonesia, given the long history of struggles between the two countries. Anggasta has a younger brother studying medicine in Indonesia, and a younger sister in middle school.
Anggasta became interested in art in middle school, and was always drawing and designing. She thought about studying graphic design or architecture.
“Then I looked at interior design and saw the materials and I like to touch them and I like color,” she said. She enjoys space planning and combining materials, and hopes to do interior design in commercial settings like hotels and hospitals.
SIDE INTERESTS
A bit of homesickness was cured by diving into the Philadelphia chapter of an Indonesian student organization known as PERMIAS. Anggasta has served on the board as director of education and has produced the group’s bi-monthly magazine. She is a backup singer in a band at an Indonesian church where she volunteers.
“I got a lot of friends here and I know the community,” she said. “I feel ok right now.”
Anggasta enjoys traveling, hopping up to New York or down to Washington D.C. frequently. She’s also recently been to Chicago, Boston, Princeton and Canada.
She does miss Indonesia’s tropical temperatures.
“Now that I know snow, I hate it,” she said. “It can be really beautiful, but seriously, when you walk in it, it’s horrible.”
