Student Spotlight - Phuong Vu
Phuong Vu, EvCC's 2019 commencement speaker, received a standing ovation after describing her move from Vietnam to the United States, struggle to learn English, and determination to become a doctor to serve those in need. Most importantly, she reminded students, "You have the power. You have the power to light up the house, the power to light up your heart, and the power to inspire others."
What did you study at EvCC?
My major is Chemistry.
Why did you choose EvCC?
The reason why I chose EvCC was that it’s close to my house, but soon it became my second home.
How did your EvCC Foundation scholarship help you?
My EvCC Foundation scholarship helped me in my hardest time. My father passed away from a stroke, and he was in the ICU for about 12 days. It was the end of Winter quarter; finance was a big problem for my family. At that time, I was facing a problem with financial aid because of incomplete courses, and my family doesn’t have enough money to pay rent, food, and hospital fees. Having enough money to pay for tuition and books was a huge problem for me. Luckily, I got a scholarship from the National Science Foundation and with the help from TRiO, and Foundation scholarship, I could continue to finish my last quarter at EVCC.
What do you want your scholarship donor(s) to know?
Your donations are a blessing to many students who are in need. Many students are in the same situation as me and need your help. Thank you so much for all your support.
Who helped you succeed at EvCC? (faculty member, staff). What did that person do to help you?
It is going to take me forever to list all people that helped me during my time at Everett Community College. I am lucky to have many faculties, staffs from different departments supported me. BRIDGES Center, Transitional Studies, TriO, Advising Center, International Education Department, and so on. The person that I want to say thank you the most is Chayuda Overby - my supervisor. She is the one who took me out of my comfort zone and exposed me to this social life. She has become my family member, a sister, a mom. Thank you Ámbar Martínez for introducing me to Chayuda, and also thank Adja Fame for taking me to introduce to Ambar. Thank you, everyone, for making my school life meaningful. Thank you, Everett Community College, for helping build my foundation.
How did the TRiO program help you?
TRiO has been a part of me since my first quarter at Everett Community College. It was beneficial. It made me feel like I wasn't alone in college. Linda Summers is my TriO advisor; she is always staying by my side, in happiness and sadness. The TRiO program showed me that no matter what happened out there in life, there is still a place I can come, talk, and share. It gives me the confidence to continue my journey, knowing that they are always there to hold me when I fail.
What advice do you have for new EvCC students?
I think the first thing that every student should do is find a place in this college that they belong to. To me, going to college every day is happiness. I can meet people I love; I can talk to them, and the feeling is like going back home. The second thing is trying to utilize the resources that we have at school. From that, your college life will be more comfortable. Comfortable means we get support when we need it. The third thing, and also what I enjoy the most, is volunteering. I had a great chance to work with many people in college and in the community. I have gained knowledge and life skills through volunteering. Thanks Chan Beattie for showing me the meaningful value of volunteering.
What do you plan to do next? (Job, transfer, etc.)
I am going to attend the University of Washington, continuing in my major. More than that, I'm getting ready for my big dream. A dream of being a doctor to help people who are in need.
Describe the best experience you had at EvCC.
I think the best experience I had at EvCC was wherever I go, people always come and say “Hi, Phuong.” Volunteering and working as a student leader, I had many chances to join in many orientations and events. I got to know many staff and students in this college. Look back, I was a shy girl, couldn’t talk much, and now EvCC changed me into a successful person. A person that willing to get involved in many things to help this community get better.
Phuong Vu was EvCC's 2019 graduation speaker. Her speech is also below.
My mentor once asked me “What is the single most important moment in your life?”
We were out getting bubble tea, just discussing life things, when all of a sudden he dropped this huge philosophical question on me. Yeah, I think we all have that person in our lives that does that randomly.
Well, I am going to do what he did, I will let you think about that for a little bit and we will come back to it later.
In the meantime, I have a quick story. It took place in one of the rural parts of Vietnam. Where electricity has always been like a friend who has the worst timing. I remember one day as I was growing up in Thu Duc, a district of Ho Chi Minh City. The power went out. In my house, you could always tell when the electricity goes out, as it is always followed by my mom’s distinct yelling of “Again?!” It turns out electricity is quite important when cooking.
I remember vividly the day the electricity went out, I was playing outside with my Dad. I was 8 at the time, so it was still considered acceptable to play with your parents, though it may not have been a “cool” thing. Our neighbor came over to check to see if our power was back on. Power would randomly come back earlier for certain parts of the neighborhood. I’ll never forget the moment, my dad’s reaction to the question, with the straightest face and the most serious look, staring at our neighbor in the eyes and said “Yes, we have power. You can go inside and see for yourself.”
Now, I will admit our neighbor was quite gullible, however, I was the smartest kid on the block, or so I told myself. But the way my dad said that made even my 8-year-old self believe, that we had power, even though we didn’t have an ounce of electricity.
That moment always stuck with me. Time and time again it struck me that I am not my dad. I can’t tell a lie to save my life. No matter how many times and different ways that I tried. People tell me that’s a good thing, I have different thoughts.
Reflecting back on the moment, I believe there’s a powerful message to be had here. When my dad convinced the neighbor that we had power, even though we had none, he showed me that actual power is something we will always have. There will be many moments in our lives, where this lesson will be needed. We have power. Even when others, sometimes including ourselves, believe differently, tell yourself that you have power.
Growing up in Vietnam had its challenges, other than power outages, there were also water outages. Image taking a nice hot shower in the middle of winter. Then in the middle of that warm nice shower BAMM it turns freezing cold. Now, in Vietnam, it’s the other way around, with 90 degrees being the normal, cold water is what we wanted. There was this and many other random things in Vietnam, but to me it was home. It was comfortable.
Moving to America has been the biggest decision that my family has made. From job searching with my dad, to being put down by other students in high school; it was starting to look like this decision was everything but the right choice.
Knowing that my parents gave up everything for us to be here, it did not make it any easier, rather it added this enormous pressure that made me feel terrible. Terrible for not being able to do well, or even fit in for that matter. There were many nights when I wanted to cry, but I didn’t. I couldn’t.
At a young age, my dad instilled in me the drive to offer up my struggles, and to continue to do my best no matter what. I reminded myself, I don’t have time to cry. I needed to achieve getting a good job to help support my family.
I spent all my time learning English. My family depended on it. Translating Vietnamese to English and vice versa, was very, how to put it, crappy the first few months. English was a big challenge for me and my family, even after 3 years I still struggle. Trust me. I’m only doing okay on this speech because I practiced it 1,000 times.
One year later, I remembered one night, my father said “Neu co nguoi Viet o do thi tot biet may.” which translates to “It would be great if there was a Vietnamese tutor in my class.” He was struggling much more than my siblings and I to learn the language, but he never gave up.
At this point, I had begun my first quarter at Everett Community College. So I started. I started to volunteer at the BRIDGES Center, to help those that go through the same struggles as my family did. My English wasn’t great, but at this point it was something I can work with.
I never considered gambling in my life, but if I did, I know the casinos would go bankrupt because of how lucky I am. I am lucky to have so many people supporting me, believing in me, and standing by me.
Throughout my time of studying and volunteering, I have gained many mentors and friends on this campus. The people who supported me didn’t want any recognition, but because of them that my dreams have gotten bigger. In fact, I am now striving to be a doctor. A doctor that helps immigrants and refugees from all over the world to receive the care and treatment they need.
Everett Community College inspired me to dream big and helped build my foundation. What I am doing today is not only for myself but for others, who have or don’t have.
Now that’s a lot about me. I wonder graduates of 2019 what has EvCC inspired in you. What is a change you want to make in your life? In the community? In the world? Was there ever a time where you thought, “wow it would be great if there was?” fill in the blank.
Well, back to the first question I had for all of you. What is the single most important day of your life? The answer? Today is the most important day of our life. Not because we are celebrating our hard work and achievements for the past few years.
It’s because of every challenge, every struggle, every fight you overcame even though when all the odds were against us. All the times of sadness, disappointment, and shame that you carry on in silence behind that brave smile of ours. The build-up of everything we have been through brings us to this day.
“What is the single most important day in your life?” Every important moment that you thought of, all of that, impacts the decision you will choose to make today. No matter how wrong it might have been, no matter how badly we want it to change, we are not able to rewrite the past, however, we are the authors of today, and the future is in our hands.
So whether, your choice today is to tackle the problem you see in your life, in your community, in the world around you. However, I am standing up here today and asking you to consider. Consider all the challenges you overcame, all the support you have received from your loved ones, and what you want for your future when you think about today.
Two months ago, my father passed away from a stroke. He was in a coma for 10 days, and for 10 days I sat by him, holding his hand, asking him to wake up. It was the first time, in three years, where I forgot to remind myself not to cry. I know that my dad is watching over me today and that he would want me to share our experience with this graduation class of 2019, with these three simple and encouraging words. “We have power.” You have the power to light up the house, the power to light up your heart, and the power to inspire others. You have the power to make a change. We are not trapped, we are not worthless, we are the future, and today is the most important moment of your life.