Kathy Le ’26, PharmD ’28, and Kevin Nguyen ’27 are co-presidents of the Vietnamese Student Association, leading the organization from two different campuses. Le, a pharmacy student, is based at the University City campus, and Nguyen, a biomedical sciences and medical laboratory sciences double major, is based at the Hawk Hill campus. Together, they work to provide a space for Vietnamese students to connect and celebrate and share their culture with the larger university community.
What was the reason for being co-presidents?
Le: I’m on UCity, and he’s on Hawk Hill, and it was easier to split and delegate the tasks … And also, again, because I’m a professional student, I’m not going to be able to have time to create meetings and delegate tasks all the time. Plus, we’re a pretty small e-board. For me, it’s manageable.
What do you like most about running the club?
Nguyen: [Having] fun with a lot of the Vietnamese students on campus. It’s nice to have a club that is heavily focused on that. When I had first joined, I was heavily relieved that there was a campus with a bunch of other Vietnamese students who share the same background as me. On top of that, it’s nice to plan fun events for people, have fun prizes and stuff.
What has being co-president of the VSA taught you about your leadership style?
Le: In today’s world, not a lot of people are really empathetic or generous with time because not everyone in the world is going to have time. So, that’s why I try to be generous with, for example, when I host a meeting. I expect everyone to be there, but sometimes a hiccup may come up. So, I’m like, ‘OK, as long as you read the meeting notes and you’re caught up.’
Who’s your favorite U.S. president?
Nguyen: Would Barack Obama be a safe answer?
What’s the best advice someone has ever given you?
Le: Be patient. Love will come to you when you least expect it.
What’s your most treasured possession?
Nguyen: I spend a lot of my time with my siblings and my cousins. My brother goes to Temple, and my cousin also goes to Temple, but I’m over at SJU. Whenever we do have time, we typically get together to go explore Chinatown … Chinatown has a nice photo booth that you can use to print out photos with each other. I have a wall of those photos with me, my sibling and my cousins.
What do you guys do in your free time?
Le: Realistically, I’m sticking my head on my laptop and doing work for school, but if you’re talking about hobbies, I like to chat with my friends a lot. I think, for me, I do hold in a lot of emotions, and I like to talk to my friends to relieve that stress.
What is one word you hope people on campus would use to describe you?
Nguyen: Approachable. I don’t want to be the type of person to be sulking everywhere and not connected to the people around me.
What’s on your Philly bucket list?
Le: To be able to go to restaurants and eat new things. I keep going to the same restaurants every time because change doesn’t really work with a lot of people. Some people feel uncomfortable wanting to come out of their comfort zone. So, I want to be able to do that. Philly is known for multicultural food, so [I] want to be able to do that with my friends as well.
