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Tutors for a Cause · Co-President
HuếSince 8th grade
Four years inside one small square on my screen — and the summer I finally saw beyond it.
About
Beyond the highlight reel
Who I am — a daughter, a tutor, a teammate, and a storyteller.
My Story
Rooted in two cultures
I am the daughter of two Vietnamese international students who crossed an ocean believing that education could change a life. I grew up American on paper and Vietnamese in the kitchen — turning a jade bracelet around my wrist when I'm nervous, checking Hanoi's weather from a snowed-in New England dorm, and learning that the space between two languages is where my best stories live.
At The Governor's Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts, I co-founded our political and economic journal, The Governor's Review, edit our literary magazine, The Spire, and captain the varsity girls tennis team. I lead our Asian & Asian American Association, and I dance, act, and sing in our performing arts program. Since eighth grade I have tutored English to students in Huế, Vietnam through Tutors for a Cause, which I now lead as Co-President — work that taught me that the quietest students are often the most courageous.
What motivates me is simple: my parents were given a chance through education, and they raised me to pass that chance on. Everything on this site — the essays, the organizations, the performances, the photographs — is a way of doing that.
My Stories The moments behind the work.
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Leadership Recognition
Dareto Lead
Called on stage for leadership, with Brené Brown's book about courage in hand.
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The Spire · Editor
InkLaunch day
A new issue in every hand — proof that stories are better made together.
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Theater · School Productions
StageEnsemble
Stepping into someone else's story, and bringing the whole room along with me.
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Dance Company
Motion10 years
The one place I stop translating and let the choreography do the talking.
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Asian American Footsteps Conference · Organizer
AAFC2024
200+ students from 20+ schools — and my dumpling workshop was the first session to sell out.
Different stages, one voice. Every moment here is me learning to speak up — and then making room for someone else to.
A tutor waiting out a frozen video call. A dancer under pink light. A castmate, an editor, a daughter translating between two languages. On their own, these are just photographs. Together, they tell the story I keep coming back to: my parents crossed an ocean believing that education could change a life, and everything I do is a way of passing that belief on.
What I care about
Values I keep coming back to
Value 01
Passing it on
Whatever education gives me, I find ways to give to someone else — a lesson my parents carried across an ocean.
Value 02
Courage in quiet
My students in Huế taught me that silence is often courage gathering itself. I try to listen for it — in others and in myself.
Value 03
Carrying culture
From áo dài to cà phê trứng, I write and perform to keep the recipes, names, and stories my family carried here alive.
Recognition
- Williams PrizeFaculty-nominated honor for members of the junior class, recognizing academic performance and resilience.
- Varsity Girls TennisCaptain for two years · Team MVP (2025) · ISL Sportsmanship Award (2024)
- Writing honorsMurphy Mercer Prize for Best Prose, three Scholastic Writing Awards Honorable Mentions, and more — see Writing.
- LanguagesEnglish (native) · Vietnamese (business proficient)