A humanitarian in the truest sense of the word, Nguyen has spent the last four years at Emory serving and helping those society often tries to forget. As a sophomore she organized a partnership with Cook Elementary School that sends 60 Emory students to the Atlanta inner-city school to mentor and tutor the children. Nguyen also serves as a Vietnamese translator for the DeKalb County court system and for Georgia Baptist and Grady hospitals. She logs volunteer hours at the Wesley Woods Geriatric Center, the Woodruff Park Soup Kitchen and as a peer tutor for Emory's Multicultural Resource Center.
In addition, she single-handedly created "Enlighten-ment for All," a support group for Vietnamese-American women to elevate their knowledge of assertiveness, planned parenting and self esteem, while also working up to 20 hours a week in her family's Atlanta restaurant.
Recently, Nguyen was named one of five recipients of the 1995 Michael Schwerner Activist Award, presented to five college students in the nation who best exemplify student activism. The award carries a $1,000 prize that she promptly donated to her two favorite charities. Last year she used most of the $500 award presented to her with the 1994 Humanitarian Award to purchase supplies for Cook Elementary School and donated the rest to "Opportunities For All," a comprehensive program for Vietnamese immigrants that provides tutoring and translation service. Nguyen is one of the coordinators of the program as well.
Nguyen has excelled in the classroom as well, consistently being named to the Dean's List. A Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar, she is a member of Alpha Kappa Delta, an international sociology honor society, and she serves on the Emory Scholars' Advisory Committee.
Next year, Nguyen will enter the medical school, where she was accepted as a sophomore.
--Joyce Bell