In Vietnam, over 6,000 miles and a cultural universe away from Arizona, Vy Huynh researched her options. From her Vietnamese high school, she had been accepted into pharmacy school. Yet her parents wanted her to get an education in the United States to better her career options. But where? Accustomed to a warm climate, Huynh wanted to avoid cold winters. Her parents had an acquaintance that had come to Arizona long ago; he was aware of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD).
Through extensive online research, Huynh learned there were ten colleges in the MCCCD system. She combed methodically through the Web site of each college. When she saw the Estrella Mountain Community College site, she read the English words: Your success is our success. “Those words really tugged at my heart,” said Huynh.
Described as a small community that offered lots of support, Estrella Mountain looked like it might be a good place to start her new academic life.
A few months later, after an 18-hour plane ride and a journey of over six thousand miles, Huynh landed in Arizona. It was July: definitely not too cold, although there were other challenges: A different language. A different culture. And with her friends and family a hemisphere away, deep loneliness.
She felt self-conscious. She didn’t always understand, and often couldn’t be understood. She often felt excluded because of the language barrier. Huynh quickly realized a stark reality: She was starting from nothing. A disciplined worker, she would have to work harder than ever – and she did. She talked to her instructors, asking for additional assignments and help. Others helped, too. “My instructors and my advisors changed my life,” Huynh says now.
Huynh started as a business major, expecting to return to Vietnam to help her mother in her hotel business. But over time, she continued to be drawn to the sciences. So she switched from classes like economics, and focused on classes like organic chemistry and microbiology. Two years after her arrival in Arizona, Huynh had amassed enough credits for two degrees, an Associate in Science (with highest distinction) and an Associate in Arts. She will graduate in May 2011.
Her journey has gone beyond academics. She says EMCC has given her new confidence. “I was shy. I didn’t talk too much, and I was afraid of everything. Now I have increased self-esteem. I’m more assertive; I know what I need, and know what I need to do to get it. I can talk to people, and I can even help others.”
Recently, Huynh has even become a peer mentor, and is helping new students, just as others have helped her. She knows how hard it can be, and finds satisfaction in easing the transition for new students. “I want to be a role model, and help students connect with resources,” said Huynh. “Peer support can really help them make the transition successfully.”
As a member of Phi Theta Kappa honor society, various four-year institutions recruited her. She visited Cornell University, in New York City, and Virginia Tech. “I fell in love with Virginia Tech,” said Huynh. “The way they handled me as a potential new student made me feel the same kind of support I’ve gotten at EMCC. I want to find a place like EMCC again, where everyone helps each other to improve.”
When she begins her studies at Virginia Tech next January, Huynh aims to earn a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. Then she intends to go for a doctorate in pharmacology at Cornell, where she wants to minor in agribusiness. Vietnam is an agricultural country, and Huynh feels a kinship with the farmers, such as her grandparents, who worked hard to support her parents and to give them a better life.
“Farmers in Vietnam have a very hard life, with many challenges: hard work, poverty, devastating natural disasters,” said Huynh. “When I was a child, I saw the countryside, how the families work in the fields. They do everything by hand. It really touched me.”
Eventually, Huynh may decide to return to Vietnam to help those farmers have better lives. And if Huynh’s sister, who is six years younger, decides to come to the United States for schooling, Huynh will support her in turn. In extending herself to help others, she remembers those words on the EMCC Web site: Your success is our success.