Why Grinnell?
I went to a high school with 1,500 students, which is around the same size of Grinnell. I felt a lot of pressure there. Each class had around 30 students, and there wasn’t a lot of time for teachers to tend to everyone.
When I was looking for a college, I knew I wanted a place with closer relationships between teachers and students. I wanted an environment that was more collaborative than competitive and where people cared about what was going on in the world and how to make change.
My school counselor recommended Grinnell to me, and I quickly realized that it was the right fit for me. I knew an upper-level student from my high school who was thriving at Grinnell, and Grinnell’s sense of community sealed the deal for me.
My First Year in College
International Pre-Orientation (IPOP)
International students usually come to campus one week earlier than everyone else for International Pre-Orientation (IPOP). I loved my pre-orientation experience as a first-year student, so I later decided to become an IPOP mentor!
I’m in the lower-right corner of the photo above. My classmate and admission co-worker Parikshit Roychowdhury ’26 and I were both IPOP mentors that year.
Vietnamese and International Community
As a first-year student, I joined the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) and volunteered to be a part of the International Student Organization (ISO)’s Cultural Evening. During my first year, I also observed how Grinnell’s multicultural communities operated and noted the areas where we could better introduce our culture to the broader Grinnell community.
In a Middle of Everywhere presentation, my friend Amy Nguyen ’26 walked us through a day in her life in Ho Chi Minh City. I helped her make avocado ice cream to make the event even more fun and interactive. It was a great moment of community-building, and I absolutely loved it.
Academics
Transitioning to a rigorous college environment was a bit of a change, but my advisers and upper-level friends had my back. Whenever I struggled, they would say, “Okay, you have these problems. Why don’t you go to the professor's office hours, visit the writing center, or find a tutor who can help?”
Having others encourage me to reach out for help has been very positive for my academic journey. I have a community willing to go to bat for me, and I am very grateful for their presence.
Entrepreneurs in Training: Wilson Center’s Catalyst
I work as a Catalyst mentor at Grinnell’s Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership. Catalyst is an idea incubator that funds students’ ideas into a tangible project, initiative, organization, or startup. Project submissions have ranged from building solar panels abroad to designing apps for people with dementia. The Wilson Center helped some students form a band together — I know Ben Curran ’25 got together with his friends and launched their debut album in Grinnell. The Wilson Center has also funded some of my classmate Noah Biniam ’26’s film travels abroad.
As a Catalyst mentor, I help students build and reword those ideas. I help them think about their project’s feasibility, budget, sustainability, and pitch to the Wilson Center’s board of directors. Even if students don’t earn funding, they can continue to develop an idea until it is to their liking.
I had social innovation experiences in high school, so this has been a great way to use my skills to help others. Working with other mentors is a very comfortable experience for me; it feels like a group of close friends working together, and we are able to be honest with one another.
The Wilson Center also hosts Pioneer Weekend, which is a three-day innovation and pitch competition. My team consisted of August Ngo ’27, Mufrad Chowdhury ’27, Candice Lu ’26, and myself, and we won third place at the 2024 competition!
The Wilson Center is unlike many entrepreneurial centers at other schools. Other schools’ centers typically accommodate only business, economics, and computer science majors. But at the Wilson Center, as long as your business idea can create impact in a community, it is open for you.
Shadowing a CEO
I job-shadowed alumna Stephanie Perlick ’00, the CEO of Evans Consulting, over spring break through Grinnell’s Externships and Shadowing Program. Since I was interested in management and strategy consulting, I was excited to see what a day in Stephanie’s life looked like. I learned about the work that she was doing on a daily basis, how she works with her staff, what clients they serve, and the strategies they implement for different clients.
Since most of Stephanie’s clients are in the government sector, we also got to visit Washington, D.C. and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) office.
I also got to meet Stephanie’s family, learn about her daily life, and talk about being a Grinnell student with her. I loved being able to connect with her!
To London!
I chose to study abroad in London because the program offered several classes that were on par with my Grinnell studies.
Classes
I loved how interdisciplinary most of my classes were; I studied economics and education, economics and psychology, and economics and sociology.
I also got to learn from some of the United Kingdom’s top economics researchers. It took some time for me to adjust to the longer lecture- and seminar-style classes, but I adapted. I also realized that the amount of in-class participation that is normal at Grinnell is more than what people expect elsewhere. I love how Grinnellians are frequently encouraged to think, discuss with each other, and participate in our classes.
New Industries and Travels
In London, I worked on a project that looked at business strategy for an AI company that builds capture technology for manufacturing plants. Since this was a totally new industry for me, I thought it was really interesting.
I also did some fun travel within the United Kingdom and its surrounding islands during the semester. I visited Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, and Edinburgh. I met new people and reconnected with some high school and even middle school friends who were also studying abroad in those places.
I also got to attend an alumni dinner in London that celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Grinnell-in-London program. It was a lot of fun!
