Tuan Tran '13

Tuan Tran '13

Name: Tuan Tran Anh                                            

Graduating Class: 2013

Major: ACS Chemistry

Your Story:

I came to Gustavus Adolphus College as an international student from Vietnam. Though I did a lot of math from elementary to high school, I decided to give up on math and do science because from my understanding, it was the only path to get into the health care field in the future (of course I learned that was not true). As many other pre-med students, I took a lot of biology and chemistry courses in my freshmen year. It didn’t take me long to realize that I enjoyed chemistry much more than biology, though in fact I fell in love with the molecular section of biology as well. Unlike many other pre-med students, I was extremely unprepared for my future healthcare education. I only focused on doing well in science classes without paying attention to the timeline of a typical pre-med student (taking standardized test, shadowing etc).

I was invited to work in Dr. Stoll lab after doing well in his quantitative analysis course spring semester of my sophomore year. That moment really changed my life in so many different ways. Before that, no one ever told me that I could participate in research. I discovered so much about my own potentials from the research experience, and learned skills that I could never obtain from books or sitting in lectures. I could even publish a paper with Dr. Stoll after my senior year, which was something I had never dreamt of. During four years at Gustavus, I also had a chance to do organic chemistry research with Dr. Brian during summer of my junior year. Dr. Brian and I shared a lot of common interests in cheese and plants. During that summer, besides spending time in lab, we did a lot of cheese & wine sampling, and visiting many orchid exhibitions in the twin-city. You could also find many pictures of me standing next to the Corpse Flower as the human model. They were all taken by Dr. Brian. Overall, the research experience I had at Gustavus helped me understand so much more about life as a scientist and realized that undergraduate career is not just about taking prerequisite courses in order to apply to medical school or dental school. If I could go back in time to do research at Gustavus again, I would do so in a heartbeat.

I decided to apply to PhD in analytical chemistry during the year after graduation and was accepted to my dream school, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. However, when I was so ready to enter the new chapter of my life, I changed my mind. It was a complicated and long story.  I realized my goal was to get a job I could directly help as many people as possible. I decided to spend the following two years to earn my master degree in public health at Columbia University. I knew that I would like to study in one of the health care fields, yet my exposure to them during my undergraduate work was somewhat limited. In the first six months that I was at Columbia's School of Public Health, it was enough for me to try a variety of things and understand various options about my future career path. I decided to apply to dental school after spending a significant amount of time shadowing and exposing myself to dentistry practices. I was very surprised when I got multiple acceptance offers because as an international student it is even more competitive.

 

Top Five Activities/Experiences: (in no particular order)

  1. Analytical Chemistry research experience in Dr. Stoll’s lab.
  2. Organic Chemistry research experience in Dr. Brian’s lab.
  3. Gustavus Adolphus College peer mentoring
  4. Gustavus Adolphus College Tutor/Teaching assistant
  5. Research assistant at United Science Corporation post-graduation.

 

Advice:

  1. Take classes or major in the field that you like. For example, if you enjoy math, go ahead and major in math and computer science. You can then take a minimum prerequisite courses that allow you to apply to any healthcare school of your choice later.
  2. Take advantage of summer research opportunities offered at Gustavus Adolphus College. Even if you decide not to become a scientist, you will learn a lot of valuable skills that can help you with whatever you will do in the future. The research experience will boost your future application to medical school, dental school greatly.
  3. Join the pre-health club right when you first arrive at Gustavus. I wish I did because I was totally behind compared to my pre-health classmates in term of following the timeline. I wrong assumed so many thing about medical field when I first entered Gustavus, and I wish I was more prepared by joining the pre-health club.

 

Future Plans: Attending the State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Dental Medicine, start Fall 2016. I want to become an oral surgeon in the future. A degree in dentistry would present me the opportunity to make a lasting impact in the community where I came from, and any other places that need assistance in the future.

                                                                                                                                                                                 Updated: 5/18/2016 HB