SAN JOSE, Calif. - Clapping rang throughout the room, bursting with excitement as parents, friends, and families proudly beaming towards the stage as though they had won a prestigious award. Indeed, they are here to celebrate and recognize the thirteen recipients of the UVA scholarship award put on by a nonprofit organization call United Vietnamese American to recognize the all around excellence of the students; don’t you wonder how they manage to pull it off being a teenager?

Despite the workload of a student life, these amazing students have exceed beyond school to be involve and take part in the community, dedicating their talent and time to help the people in the society. How is it possible you may ask and what motivates them?  Well as Brian Trần, a senior at Fremont High, puts it, “Preserving Vietnamese culture and martial arts are my two independent passions in life… I always make time for these two things because as they say, you always find time for the things you love.” Perhaps this is the reason why Laura Đoàn raises money for charity, and it’s probably the same reason why Bảo Châu Trần volunteers her time or Stanford Trần participating in the science fair, and the list goes on with these marvelous students involved in constructive activities that benefits the community.

Students also engage in cultural activities to learn about their parents, their culture. As Phương Từ expressed, “I seek to learn about the Vietnamese culture and traditions because even though I was born in America, I am a Vietnamese American.”

These students have done it through the love of the culture, the love of the community, the love of the family, and the love of human kind. These are just a few examples of students like you and me who have done great things and made a difference in the community.

Grand prize: Stanford Trần

An incoming senior at Wilcox High School, Stanford has achieved an impressive number of honors and awards, in addition to his 3.95 GPA and 1510 SAT score. They include among other things, three first places award in the Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship, members of the Study of Exceptional Talent, having scored over 700 on the SAT before age 13, and named Athlete of the Spring Issue. He enjoys going to school to become an educated person. In the afternoons, he is in the pool year-round as a member of the swim team, which has taught him to judge his accomplishments only against his previous achievements. Stanford enjoys most weekends volunteering at Ulistac Natural Area, where volunteers labor to restore the 40-acre site back to its pre-European state; or pursuing his photography passion.