My Thanh Nguyen
Myself Third Spirit of New York 2003 Scholarship Winner
Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics
The City College of New York
"Curiosity and perfection. These words aptly describe My Thanh. She personifies the ideal student. She is curious about her world and the wider world around her. She strives for perfection — for excellence in all her endeavors. I have known My Thanh since she came to Manhattan Center in the tenth grade. She was a student in my Course III Honors Math Class that year and I have been her academic advisor throughout her years at Manhattan Center. She has the ability to see a problem from different points of view and to ask questions that reveal thought and understanding. In addition to her devotion to learning at school, she helps her family. For several years, leaving about four or five in the morning, she goes with her father to the Bronx markets to buy produce to sell in his business. She then travels with her father to Manhattan to help bring produce to the location where her father works. Having completed her morning family chores, she arrives at school, ready and eager to engage in her happiest pursuit, the freedom to learn."
—Miriam Frankel, Mathematics Teacher/Twelfth Grade Advisor
Work, Volunteer, and Extra-Curricular Activities
- COPE (Counsel of Peer Educators)
- LEARN Program
- International Alliance
- Internship and Teaching, South Street Seaport
- Math and Science Peer Tutoring
Excerpts from My Thanh's Essay
Like many other immigrants who came to America seeking refuge, and like those who have been in this country their whole life, I want to make America a better place so that the later generations will be able to flourish more. I may be just one individual, but what I do may help to make this country, which I call my second home, better than it is now. My peers and I are the new generation of America, and with the skills we learn in school, we believe that it is more than possible for us to bring America to a new level of success in the eye of the world.
My involvement in my activities helps me to be a better person and more useful for my society. They also enable me to have a deeper understanding of myself, enable me to see how deeply I feel about America, and how much I value the freedom I experience here. I want everyone to have the same kind of freedom America gives me. I do not want others to have to live in the bondage and confinement that my family and I had to live in Vietnam years ago.
I cannot do everything to make America a better place for everyone else, but what I do does count. If everyone contributes a little bit of his or her time and energy, I believe that we can make a difference not only in America, but also in the world.
As a person who lives in a free world, I refuse to wait for something to happen instead of taking the initiative when I know that what I do does count. Already, this country has done so much for my family and me. I want to do something for America in return.
