Major: Biochemistry
Year: First-year
First-year student Phuong Nguyen wasted no time in getting involved at Case Western Reserve University—and she did it all while studying remotely from her home in Maryland.
Nguyen first got involved with the Physical Resource Center when she learned about it through an email to students, but that was just the start of her efforts.
In addition to becoming the public relations officer for the center, Nguyen now supports the Student Executive Council Allocations Committee as a voting member, the Student Presidents’ Roundtable as secretary, The Observer as an editor, the National Alliance on Mental Illness as treasurer, and the Office of Student Activities and Leadership as a student ambassador.
As a result, Nguyen already feels as though she has gotten to know the CWRU and Cleveland communities, despite having not spent time on campus.
“I kept getting more and more involved,” she said. “The ‘work’ that I do doesn’t feel like ‘work’ since I enjoy it very much.”
The opportunity to get involved in various activities was part of what drew Nguyen to CWRU in the first place. During her college search, she saw how CWRU students grow and learn not only in the classroom, but also through research, community service and internships.
By being an active member of multiple organizations, Nguyen has gotten to know others better and appreciate their diverse perspectives. And, as an immigrant from Vietnam, she feels as though she can be one of many “voices of the minority” and to promote the mission of diversity and inclusion on campus.
In addition to her involvement with student organizations, Nguyen, a biochemistry major, has started conducting research through the Huang Laboratory in the Department of Pathology. Nguyen seeks to understand not just how the human body works, but humans more wholly; she plans to pick up minors in sociology and public health. In the future, she hopes to further her education through an MD/PhD program and promote individuals’ wellbeing.