First generation college student chooses nation’s most prestigious school

By James Rincon, Pflag Reporter

From its humble earthen origin, something as a simple as a lump of coal will transform into a lustrous diamond when under enough pressure. Connally High School’s Harvard-bound salutatorian is proof that people too can achieve radiance from out of the stress of modest beginnings.

Life wasn’t easy for Quan Le’s family after emigrating from Vietnam when Le was 5 years old, but he said his parents’ tribulations have given him and his sister the chance to shine.

“I’m a first generation (college student) of my entire family. My parents have never gone to college – they didn’t even finish high school, and all my aunts and uncles finished high school, but they never went to college either. I’m the oldest of all my cousins over here in America, so I’m like the first,” Le said.

With a limited ability to speak English, Le’s parents settled in Pflugerville working as a cook and hairstylist. Though they lacked formal education themselves, Le said his schooling was always a priority, and his family was always there for him when he needed their support.

“My parents — they only make a certain amount of money, but whenever I needed something for school, it was always right there,” he said. “My mom would always buy me stuff she thinks would help me with school. They couldn’t understand English well, and they didn’t have an education, but anything they could do to help me succeed they would do it.”

And succeed Le did, with the second highest grade point average in his graduating class and officer positions in as many extra curricular clubs as permitted at Connally.

“That’s kind of what I’m known for at my school – I do pretty much everything. That probably looked really good on my (applications), because I took the maximum amount of clubs you could get in.”

Le was a member of student council, the treasurer for the Connally Community Cougars, a tutor in the AP Ambassadors program, a National Honors Society member, vice President of the Asian Culture, President of the Science Olympiad team and vice president of Health Organization Student America. It was in HOSA that Le discovered a passion for the medical field.

“My Sophomore year when I joined that club, I kind of had an inkling that I wanted to be a doctor,” Le said. “It’s just something I’ve thought of my whole life. I guess it’s kind of stereotypical, like it’s an Asian thing – going to be doctors and engineers and stuff like that – but I guess I’ve always thought that it sounds like an amazing job to be like a hero for people and help them. Not to mention the monetary benefits.”

Le said he foresees a large increase in the demand for health care professionals with the recent passage of comprehensive health care legislation. Part of the reason he chose Harvard for his undergraduate studies is because of the university’s strong reputation in the medical field.

“I chose Harvard because it’s such a prestigious school and so many opportunities can open just because I went there.,” Le said. “I want to go into pre-med, and most pre-med undergraduates pick biology. I wanted to do biomedical engineering to make it stand out a little bit on my med school application. I’ve always liked biology, and the engineering just seems like it’s a step further.”

Le was accepted at the University of Texas, Yale and Stanford as well. After ruling out warm-weather schools because of possible distractions, Le said his choice was almost serendipitous.

“It was more of a fate kind of thing. Harvard’s was the only orientation I could go to. Stanford was the same weekend as this science Olympiad competition I had and I couldn’t go to it. Plus my friend said people study better in cold conditions – I’m already a procrastinator, let’s not have any other distractions.”

After uprooting from Vietnam as a 5-year-old, then having to adjust to the stresses of a new school in a new country with a new language; the task of studying and getting good grades seemed almost easy to Le.

“Pflugerville – I think it’s a really nice place compared to what’s around it. It’s not super conservative like Round Rock and that area. It’s really diverse. All of the schools I’ve been to and the schools my sister goes to, they’re so diverse. There are people from every race, every nationality, and it gives you a really open mind,” Le said. “High school was pretty easy I think – I procrastinated a lot. I put stuff off til the last minute, and I don’t recommend that to anyone. It’s definitely something that I’m trying to shake off, but it’s a pretty bad habit.”

Throughout his academic career, Le said he has failed tests, and struggled on assignments, but the secret to his success has been his perseverance.

“I’ve gotten 60s and even though no one expects that, don’t let that discourage you. It’s not the end of the world. Your GPA will definitely drop, but you should keep trying to do better because you can always make that up,” he said. “The thing I think I’ve done well is when you do something, put you’re all into it. Even if its something that gets you 100, don’t try to meet the standard, go above and do everything that you can do because your standards are probably much higher than any 100 that you can get.”

After living on the same block in Pflugerville since the day he moved to the U.S., Le said he is nervous about heading north, though it hasn’t fully sunken in.

“I expect really cold winters. I’m going to miss my family and friends because I’ve never really traveled much and I’ve never been away from them. I want to try to keep especially in touch with my sister, because she’s growing up. She’s in her teenage years, and I remember when I was I’m my early teenage years I wanted guidance, someone to talk, but I didn’t really have someone. So I want to make sure I’m there for her.”

Le wants to be a surgeon after medical school, and though he anticipates long hard nights of studying during drab and brutal Northeastern winters, he knows that like coal he can handle the pressure, and like precious diamond, in the end his brilliance will shine through.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1349369&forum_id=1#15344117)