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Anh comes from Vietnam, but before that spent three years of his high school experience in New York. Anh is majoring in marketing in the Isenberg School of Management and receiving a data analytics certificate, also while minoring in one of his passions, studio art. Anh explained that after having some experience transitioning and adapting to a new environment, he had to teach himself to be independent and emphasized the importance of self-sufficiency. 

For Anh, coming to UMass felt like the smartest choice. Many Vietnamese students from his high school were applying, which helped him and his family feel at ease. Although UMass was his safety school, the international students’ tuition and scholarships he received sold him. He explained that his mom enjoyed hearing about UMass’ No. 1 dining program as, “she really cares about my well-being. Living away from home, being sick and hungry is the last thing she wanted for me.”  Once Anh got to UMass he struggled a bit but found his way by asking for help. Anh said, “It's such a big school and there's no guideline that explains everything, so I asked people.” He first found community through other Vietnamese students that he met online, but he realized he needed a community of friends that had similar interests as him. 

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Anh was introduced to some students on the K-pop Dance Club here at UMass and joined last spring. In the KDC they learn different dances to K-pop choreography and perform them within the five colleges. Not only did he embrace his passion, he found a group of really supportive friends that loved K-pop. He told me, smiling, “We’ll put on K-pop in the middle of the street and dance to it.” 

Ahn noted that at UMass, “there are so many people here doing so many things, but it's a good thing because it pushed me to do an extra step and advocate for myself.” He began pushing himself to do a little more, especially outside of academics, which led to his studio arts minor. 

As an international student, Anh emphasized how nice it is to hear your language being spoken, as well as how easy it is to surround yourself with people with the same ethnic background. Anh explained that the thing he loves about UMass is our diverse population and advises international students to “make friends with people from different nations. … In order to reach your full potential here at UMass, being friends with people from different backgrounds will help you become more culturally intelligent.” He then showed me a bracelet of cultural significance, a gift from his Indian girlfriend.