A Highlight of Student Life at Rowan University
Meet Cindy Nguyen, a rising senior biochemistry major, with minors in neuroscience and psychology. She is a commuter from Voorhees, New Jersey, and is here to discuss her role as president in the Vietnamese Student Association.
Can you describe the goals of the Vietnamese Student Association?
“With VSA, we strive to unite Vietnamese-Americans and others who are interested in Vietnamese culture and traditions. We also provide service to the Vietnamese community and Vietnamese foundations through service and fundraiser events. My main hope is that we are able to create a fun and safe environment for our members. You can think of it as a big friend gathering. We meet every other Friday from 6-8pm in Business Hall, room 235, and everyone is welcome to join.”
What are your responsibilities as your role as president?
“As president, I am responsible for holding our e-board [executive board] meetings and making sure that all of our supplies are prepared for our general meetings and larger scale events. I help with planning activities for our events and am usually the one creating the PowerPoints for our meetings. I also confirm that any information we include is accurate. I think that I am very lucky to have a very supportive e-board because I was originally extremely nervous about taking on this role.”
Can you elaborate on your experience with being a part of the Vietnamese Student Association?
“I joined VSA as a freshman because I was hoping to be more in touch with Vietnamese customs. I am the kind of person who comes to school early and likes to go home early, but I was curious about what kind of activities VSA had to offer. I think that joining VSA is one of the best decisions that I have made while I was at Rowan. I am usually introverted but definitely go a little crazy when I’m at events. I became the events coordinator during my second year and now I’m president. I still try my best to come up with new events and activities to expose our members to as much Vietnamese culture as I can.”
What does the Vietnamese Student Association mean to you?
“I not only met all of my closest friends at Rowan, but I was also able to help different communities in Vietnam directly as well through fundraising events. I think that having a group of people who share similar interests and values as me is really valuable. VSA gives me the opportunity to not think about work or school and just enjoy some time with my friends every other week.”
What are your goals and aspirations for the future for this club?
“For the future, I aim to always be improving our meetings and taking in our members suggestions into consideration. I hope that our club will continue to grow and that our members will come to know and love Vietnamese culture as much as I do.”
Like what you see?
Written by: Jordyn Dauter, rising senior dance & elementary education double major
Photos by: Valentina Giannattasio