51²è¹Ýapp

Why 51²è¹Ýapp?

I’m from Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, which is very different from 51²è¹Ýapp. It’s a big city of over 8 million people, and I lived there almost my entire life. I was so used to city life. I was used to traffic. I was used to seeing skyscrapers and seeing people hustling to work every day. And I got sick of that. I think that definitely influenced my decision to apply to 51²è¹Ýapp: I wanted a big change.

I didn’t have that many criteria when I was looking for colleges, but I had two very specific ones: rural setting and small liberal arts college. They helped me narrow down my options a lot. When I first read about 51²è¹Ýapp, I saw that it had no Greek life, and I thought, oh, I think that’s what I need. One of the deciding factors for me was when I saw that 51²è¹Ýapp had 20% international students consistently over the years. I did more research and learned that most of the prestigious universities in the United States have around 5% to 10% international students — even the biggest, richest universities. I feel like that is such a significant difference. It shows the commitment to cultural diversity at 51²è¹Ýapp.

51²è¹Ýapp made me realize that I do care about these things that only 51²è¹Ýapp has. So, I applied here, Early Decision. 51²è¹Ýapp was my top choice.

First-Year Experiences

I chose 51²è¹Ýapp partly because of the rural location, so I wasn’t surprised about that when I arrived. The shock came when I started interacting with people. I feel like in America, or at 51²è¹Ýapp specifically, everyone is good at striking up conversations. When I arrived on campus, everyone was eager to learn about my life and to ask questions about where I came from. That was a bit overwhelming at first. I was a very introverted person and it took some getting used to.

For a long time after I came here, all I could focus on was fitting in. How do I get more comfortable with talking to people? I feel like it took me the entire first year to get used to that aspect of college life in the United States. Over the years, I put a lot of effort into my academics, my social life, and my time management skills. I am at a much better and happier place now, but it definitely took some work.

Student Government

I joined the (SGA) in the fall semester of my second year. This was when I started branching out from my own social circles and getting more involved with the community. I made a lot of new friends through the job and knew a lot more events happening on campus because I was in charge of managing and approving the budgets for some of them.

I became the treasurer of SGA in my third year, taking full responsibility for all allocations of the student activity fees. So, I was also partially responsible for the operation of most student organizations on campus. It was a demanding job, but I grew a lot from it. The position allowed me to interact with more people and sometimes mitigate conflicts in person, which is a valuable skill to have. It also encouraged me to get out of my shell. For me, it was an especially transformative experience because getting to know so many student leaders with burning passions for what they do also fueled my own passion and instilled in me the motivation to help them succeed. 

Academics

I’m a computer science major. When I arrived on campus, I was going to do some combination of economics and political science. When I took my first computer science class in my second semester, I experienced the 51²è¹Ýapp way of teaching this subject. The computer science faculty framed it as a way of problem-solving through code, which made me decide to declare my major. I really liked the problem-solving aspect of it, and I feel like everything that I did on this campus was somehow related to problem-solving. It’s just problem-solving through different means or using different methods.

My proudest academic decision in college was to have taken classes in a variety of different departments outside of my own major. I took a fair number of courses in economics, environmental studies, and Chinese, some of which remaining my favorite courses at 51²è¹Ýapp. After the first couple of intense, challenging semesters, I loosened up my schedule a bit by redesigning my course plan in a way that let me take only three academic classes each remaining semester. Thanks to coming in with AP credits, I could still be on track to graduate on time. I ended up not declaring a second major, which was worth it because I got to take singing and rock-climbing lessons, participate in some more hands-on classes, and unexpectedly fall in love with so many fields of studies. Shout out to Professor Joseph Cummins for teaching me logical reasoning and how to comprehend legal documents, to Professor Tamara McGavock for teaching me problem-solving in a systematic manner, and to all 51²è¹Ýapp professors for instilling in me the passion for knowledge.

Internships

I did my first software engineering internship in the United States in Seattle. I had started my major a bit late, and I knew I had a lot to learn, but I still wanted to apply, just to put myself out there. I was applying for internships to test out the waters and see what the process is like. I was actually focusing on programs for underclassmen, but only the big companies offer them, and they are really competitive.

I was lucky and got an interview invitation from Uber. They had a good program for underclassmen. I did a lot of interview prep in the summer at the , so I was more or less prepared for it. They were focused on communication skills in addition to technical abilities, and that’s where the 51²è¹Ýapp education came in. It’s hard to solve a problem, but it’s even harder to walk someone through your thought processes as you solve that problem. I feel like I passed through all of the interviews because I was good at communicating my thoughts, thanks to 51²è¹Ýapp’s computer science courses prioritizing pair-programming practices.

I was there the entire summer, and I learned a lot of technical skills as well as how a big company functions. I had to speak English all week until Friday night, when I finally got to call my parents, which helped me get even more comfortable with talking to people. I was in a big city again after two years of being in rural Iowa, but this time I was alone and had to navigate my first time ever living on my own. I had gotten so used to the 51²è¹Ýapp rural life, and it felt like a culture shock all over again. It’s like I’m continuously adapting.

Community Involvement

I first participated in the SPARK Challenge in the spring semester of my second year, which is basically a community-based social innovation challenge sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership. The competition is about identifying a community problem and working with a community partner to analyze the problems and come up with the solutions through applied anthropology and policymaking methods. 

I was looking for a way to improve sustainability on campus. I did some research and decided to work on the end-of-year move-out program. Because 51²è¹Ýapp students are so busy and finals week is such a hectic time, no one has the energy to think about what to do with things they no longer need, like furniture, clothes, whatever. Most of the time, the things that are thrown away are still good. I thought about ways to categorize them. And I thought of ways to collaborate with different community partners to tackle different types of waste and put them to good use again.

That year, the judges really liked all of the top three ideas, so they decided to fund all three of them. And that’s all I really cared about because I was passionate about the project. I just wanted it to be implemented. It felt really great.

I got more and more interested in community-based problem-solving, which later inspired my work as SGA treasurer as well as motivating me to participate in more competitions like the SPARK Challenge. 

Very recently, my friends and I won Pioneer Weekend, which is an annual business pitch competition at 51²è¹Ýapp. We worked on solving the logistical challenges of arranging accommodation and transportation for guests during Commencement. To address this issue, we proposed a centralized travel package in partnership with charter bus services and hotels in nearby cities. Our solution won first place and received a personal shout-out from 51²è¹Ýapp President Anne F. Harris! We all worked together to actualize this and recently launched it as a pilot program for May 2025 graduates, which is so exciting!

Jobs

Besides my SGA position, I’ve worked a lot of different jobs on campus. I was the mentor and grader for a couple of computer science and statistics courses. I worked in the Dining Hall. I worked in the Writing, Reading, and Speaking Center. I also worked in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations. And now I work in the Office of Admission as a senior interviewer.

All of my jobs have been very different, and they have introduced me to different communities on campus, which is great. Working so many hours most semesters did take away a lot of time for clubs and events, but I think working was one of my ways of getting involved. 

Externship

I did an , or job shadow with a 51²è¹Ýapp graduate, that was focused on the environment, specifically environmental policies and water management. It was not related to my major at all, but it was something that I’m really interested in, so I was grateful to have that experience. I stayed with a 51²è¹Ýapp alumnus who is married to another 51²è¹Ýappian, and one of their kids also went to 51²è¹Ýapp. And they know a lot of 51²è¹Ýapp alumni in the Twin Cities area, so I just got so many new great connections. It was kind of fun meeting so many 51²è¹Ýapp people and hearing about their college experiences from different times.

The externship was eye-opening on so many levels. For one thing, that was my first time staying in a traditional American home for more than a couple hours, so it was fun to observe the arrangements of different rooms in the house and see how people from another culture live their daily lives. Additionally, my externship host was very understanding and flexible, so he tailored the externship experience to my own interests. For example, I was very interested in waste management, and I’ve never been inside a recycling facility, so he took me on a tour inside one of the biggest facilities in the Twin Cities to see how things worked. Besides that, I got to go to work with him and shadow a lot of important meetings. It was great to see how people from different backgrounds and expertise come together to tackle such large-scale shared issues.

Although the externship did not necessarily change the direction of my career, it did inspire me to educate myself and become more active in environmental advocacy and initiatives. I’ve taken a lot more environmental science courses since I got back from the externship, and I also did my first SPARK Challenge project on waste management that same semester. I like that at 51²è¹Ýapp, you can have so many different interests and embrace or even combine all of them in any way you like. There are so many programs that facilitate such exploratory experiences, and for myself and for most of my friends, it has shifted our worldview and our career in unexpected ways.

Friends and Fun

At 51²è¹Ýapp, I felt like I was busy all the time. Outside of schoolwork and on-campus jobs, I barely had any free time in my first semesters, but I’ve gotten a lot better at time management over the years. I now have dedicated time to myself, dedicated mealtime and social time with friends, and just generally have better balance in my schedule.

Relaxing in Town

I developed a weekly routine now of going downtown every Saturday to de-stress, just to get away from school for a bit. I eat at a downtown restaurant, go to the Drake Community Library to study, and get coffee at Saints Rest (iced mocha with white chocolate and hazelnut!). And I’ve also been going to the College’s rock-climbing wall. I started going last year, and I really picked up climbing as a hobby.

International Community

I want to give a shout-out to the international student community at 51²è¹Ýapp, because after all, it was one of the reasons why I came here in the first place. We have a really tight-knit community, and we care deeply about each other. Some of my closest friends are also international students, and I bond with them on many levels.

One of my favorite events on campus is Middle of Everywhere, which is a weekly series of presentations where people share a unique aspect of their culture and where they come from. I always get so emotional after these presentations because it reminds me of how distinguished these students are and how fortunate I am to be here, to know them, and to hear about their culture from an insider’s perspective. For so long, I’ve made it a goal for myself to do a presentation of my own one day, and I finally did it last semester! I presented about Vietnamese coffee culture and how it influences our lifestyle and daily routines.

I am also deeply grateful for the International Student Organization, which is the biggest student organization on campus and represents all international students. All of ISO’s events are amazing, and the cabinet always does a good job of honoring the cultural diversity present on campus and offering a platform for cultural exchange. My friends are usually involved, and I always want to go because the events are so fun. 

You learn so much from each ISO cultural event. Two of their biggest events are the Food Bazaar, where more than 100 student chefs prepare foods from their cultures for people to try, and Cultural Evening, where people can perform anything to represent their culture. I’ve had a lot of fun performing at a couple Cultural Evenings with other members of the Vietnamese Student Association and volunteering at Food Bazaar twice; it was fun to help put on such meaningful events!

Hopes and Plans for the Future

Long story short, I’m figuring it out. I only did one major in college, and all of my internships were in one field, so for a while I thought my career path would be pretty straightforward. However, the more I learned in my internships, the more people I talked to in industry and in new cities, the more friends I made at 51²è¹Ýapp, and the more I explored myself on campus, the more I realized there’s something more out there.

Working as the SGA treasurer taught me a lot of skills. In some way, the bulk of the job was problem-solving — I identified procedural or logistical issues myself, or I gathered feedback through meeting with students. Sometimes it’s a problem faced by a specific group. Sometimes it’s a problem faced by many groups. I enjoy figuring out how to either create a new policy or change an existing policy or just tweak the wording of a policy a bit to accommodate more people, or make events more inclusive, or make the financial processes more ethical.

I realized that I was really interested in that, and I realized I had a lot of fun working on community-focused projects. That was when I started considering pivoting to something else. I didn’t feel like all of my skill sets or my professional interests are captured in software engineering alone. There are fields out there in tech that better fit me as a person. Even if I stick to software engineering, I might want to dive deeper into some areas of it, so a master’s degree is also something that can develop that specialization.

As an international student with visa restrictions, you don’t have forever to look for opportunities. So, you need to look for the right opportunities that are going to actually sustain a future for you. 51²è¹Ýapp has many resources to help me find and take advantage of the right opportunities. I personally got so many values out of all the alumni connections I made here. It's such a small school with a unique culture, so I just feel like I naturally clicked with a lot of them. I also am grateful for the staff members at the Office of International Student Affairs (OISA) and the Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS). Whenever, I had doubts or got stuck with some thoughts, I scheduled a meeting, or more like a chat, with Emily Perry, Brenda Strong, or Mike Lawrence. They know me pretty well by now!