Honors Student Spotlight: Emily Tran

May 29, 2022
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Emily Tran is a first-generation Vietnamese American pursuing a major in environmental engineering. She is an undergraduate intern for CATalyst Studios, a collaborative space in the Main Library where students can explore new technology and create projects.

What does a normal day at your internship look like? 

The idea behind the internship is that you carry out some kind of independent project using one or more of the technologies available at CATalyst. I'm currently working on an educational poster about fractals in nature, with illustrations created on the embroidery machine and text engraved using the laser cutter. At the beginning of the internship, you spend most of your time learning how to use the various technologies. For example, even though I'm not using the 3D resin printer for my project, I learned the basics of how it works and practiced printing things on it. Then, after you've learned the ropes, you divide your time between helping/teaching other people and working on your project or projects. In a day, I might teach a workshop about laser cutting, help someone prepare a file for 3D printing, or just sit at my laptop doing research.

How do your cultural identity and background impact your educational experiences, if at all?

I think that my family really values higher education because their experience as immigrants has been that higher education correlates to a better quality of life. My parents supported me when I sought out educational opportunities in areas I was curious about, like taking GIS (geographical information systems) classes over the summer in high school or learning about conservation through volunteer work. People don’t usually think of Asian Americans as an underrepresented group in higher education, but statistically that is the case for Southeast Asians, a group that includes Vietnamese people. I am very proud of my parents, knowing the barriers they faced while pursuing a college education, and my parents always express how proud they are of me and my educational pursuit. I also get a rush from seeing Asian-American representation in higher education in places where we historically have not been as represented: in the arts, in the humanities, and in queer spaces, to take a few examples.

Read the full W. A. Franke Honors College interview here. 

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