By Hannah Lazarte
“I got really lucky and I got picked into my top choice. My first choice [was] MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and MIT kind of accepted and gave me [a] full-ride scholarship,” senior Tri Nguyen said.
Through QuestBride, Nguyen was accepted to his top pick, MIT. QuestBridge is an organization that helps first-generation or low-income students get into the college of their dreams. By creating various essays to submit and ranking colleges you would like to go to, the organization would help find which school wants you.
One of Nguyen’s favorite essays for Questbridge answered the prompt: “Could you describe an academic experience you had, how did you take advantage of that opportunity and what did you do with it?”
“I wrote about my opportunity with my summer program. [MITES] is a program that is focused on science and math and engineering . . . one of the classes I took was called aerospace engineering. . . I just described my learning experience, my research, my reflection during [a] project, my experience working with others . . . and how I learned to collaborate,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen’s extracurriculars
With his interest in mathematics, Nguyen is also president of the club Math Olympiad. His goal as club president is to inspire the members to discover math on their own, without a teacher and a guided curriculum. Currently, they’re preparing for an upcoming competition at the California Institute of Technology on January 25.
“I just want to prepare them so that when I’m gone, they can achieve something [and] get some awards for themselves or for the school,” Nguyen said.
Not only is Nguyen currently a board member of the Math Olympiad, but he was also the former garden director of the Ecology Club. As the garden director, he wanted to create a strong community and make sure everyone on campus enjoys what they have on campus.
Finding the balance
From extracurricular activities to hobbies, to spending time with loved ones, it can be hard finding the balance. For Nguyen, he suggests finding your interests before anything else.
“If you choose the right activities that you’re truly invested in, [that] truly interests you and not doing it for a resume … you will find yourself really wanting to make time for that topic,” Nguyen said.
Advice for students
One of the best pieces of advice given to Nguyen was from his mom when she told him to do the best he could with his opportunities.
“My mom said, ‘Once you have opened that door, that opportunity, you must make the best of it and prove that you are worth it, that you belong there.’ And I say that really helped me work hard,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen’s determination to do his best is what helped in his acceptance into MIT and will be a greatly valued student there.
