Shively Hall memories bind Bankok alumnae

Recalling their days in Shively Hall are (l-r)Bangkok friends Arunee Wonggornworawej, Sutharak Soonthornpusit and Anurit Thienkunaporn

Memories of sharing food cooked in a tiny Shively Hall kitchen were abundant when three Ball State alumnae had lunch together in Bangkok in May 2007.

Arunee Wonggornworaweg '79 MA, Sutharak Soonthornpusit'78 MA, and Anurit Thienkunaporn '79 MA, broke into peals of laughter recalling times when food prepared on the residence hall's kitchen hotplates burned. "We called ourselves the Black Pot Club for our forgetfulness", the three exclaimed, remembering how sharing food preparation built international friendships.

Today, these three successful entrepreneurs share ideas on marketing their respective firm's products and services.

Anurat is the managing director of a successful fashion firm specializing in bridal gowns and accessories, World Bridaline Co. Ltd (www.worldbride.co.th) Arunee provides technical advice and other resources to Sutharak's Charoen Décor International Co. Ltd. (www.charoendecor.com) whose clients include members of the Thai royal family.

Though they all find little time to spend cooking these days, all three BSU alumnae make time to join in events that bring together Ball State alumni in Thailand. One specific result in May 2007 was adding cell phone numbers of several alumni whose records were incomplete in the university alumni database. Future plans include returning to Muncie to revisit the site of their joint cooking projects in Shively Hall.