Thuy Nguyen

Santa Ana College - School of Continuing Education

Nominated in 2016

Thuy grew up in a tiny remote town surrounded by mountains in the north central part of Vietnam. She remembers when her brother and her were small kids and their parents didn’t have enough food to feed them. For them, bread was a luxurious food allowed only to the rich. Even with these hardships education had always been a primary concern for her parents. They helped her understand and believe that education is the life-changing key to success and the only way out of poverty was to become knowledgeable, respectful, and self-reliant.

Since the day she came to the U.S. in 2014, she always knew that going to college would be one of the most important goals she needed to achieve in order to be able to take care of herself, her family, pay taxes, and contribute to society. Thuy enrolled at Santa Ana College – School of Continuing Education where she started taking an ESL Intermediate 3 class. During the first year she had arrived in the United States she rode her bike a total of 20 miles a day, from home to school and vice versa, even when the weather wasn’t ideal. Because of her goals, Thuy was determined and committed to her studies and she wasn’t going to let inclement weather stop her. Upon completion of the ESL intermediate 3 class, she advanced to ABE, and then finally got into High School Subjects. After completing her high school diploma her first goal is to get an associate’s degree in accounting at Santa Ana College. After meeting this goal Thuy wants to attend California State University, Long Beach to complete a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Her ultimate dream is to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

For the past two years, Thuy went to school every day, studied diligently, and got a GPA of 3.83 in High School Subjects and received the honor of valedictorian at the high school graduation. She also obtained two Vocational State Certificates: General Office Clerk State Certificate and Customer Service State Certificate, and 17 other certificates at Santa Ana College – School of Continuing Education. These include: Advanced Grammar and Writing, Leadership, Accounting, Payroll, and Microsoft Access. In addition, as an active student, she regularly helped other students to keep up with the class.

Adult education has contributed significantly to her success and Thuy has now met all the requirements to enroll as a student at Santa Ana College. Starting mid-June 2016 she will begin her studies for her associate’s degree in accounting. Her achievements thus far include: an Outstanding Administrative Professional certificate from the CEC Associated Student Government, being the winner of the 2015 CATESOL essay writing contest for community college students in California, and receiving the Nancy Brook Leadership and Achievement Scholarship. These achievements make her feel proud and push her towards achieving her ultimate goal of becoming a CPA. Thuy believes that as long as she keeps going, keeps trying, and believing in what she is doing she will accomplish great things.