By Stephanie Pham
Dedicated, passionate and conscientious, Brandon Nguyen is a hard-working student with big dreams. As a senior, Nguyen is in his last year of high school pushing all his passions toward the finish line. With his ambitious goals and his passionate work, Nguyen makes an unforgettable opinion editor for FVHS’ Baron News program.
“From an early age, I wanted to decide on one thing that I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Nguyen said. I explored singing…I explored acting a little bit…and then I started watching the news and thought it would be really cool to broadcast journalism.”
His drive for journalism led him to join Baron Banner two years ago as a sophomore. As an aspiring lawyer, Nguyen enjoys exploring the nuances of issues from all sides and being able to justify his opinion through reasoning and facts. This process allows him to explore a sense of self and challenge viewpoints.
Along with his involvement in Baron Banner, Nguyen also enjoys seeking other opportunities around school.
“I have a main passion or involvement which is community service and political change and social change rather than a diverse array of extracurriculars I would say,” Nguyen said. “I’m more of a humanities person so I enjoy these because I get to interact with more people and I’m always meeting new people and experiencing culture shock.”
His engagement in multiple school clubs such as Mock Trial, National Honors Society, Baron Academic Foundation and California Scholarship Federation allows him to expose himself to different bubbles of the world.
Outside of school, Nguyen stays busy pursuing multiple projects around Fountain Valley. He interns for Michelle Steel, a congresswoman representing Fountain Valley, and he’s the youth commissioner for the city of Santa Ana. Through this encounter, he now has a thorough understanding of how the Congressional office functions and what its responsibilities are.
He takes inspiration and motivation from technology entrepreneurs and their drive to work 16 hours a day.
“I find it inspiring that these people are so motivated, and when they’re on the brink of complete collapse, they don’t give up or settle for a safer job, but they continue innovating and taking big risks, which I find inspiring,” Ngyuen said.
In his free time, Nguyen entertains himself with Netflix and HBO shows such as “Succession” and “House of Cards.” If he wants something fast to eat, Nguyen has favorite fast food restaurants which include Chipotle, Raising Cane’s and Blaze Pizza.
When he leaves Fountain Valley High School, Nguyen will no doubt leave a lasting impression.