Thiên Nguyễn learned early how to live in two worlds.
Born in Vietnam, he immigrated to the United States with his parents and older brother when he was just four. They settled in the Seattle area, where the side of the highway that he lived on determined the school he would attend — and what opportunities he would encounter.
By the time he was balancing Emory classes and shifts at a bubble tea shop, Nguyễn realized he could transform his experiences into a deeply personal mission: advancing education equity.
Plugged into diverse communities
Nguyễn immersed himself in different parts of campus and the exceptional opportunities Emory presented as soon as he arrived. During his time on campus, he has worked as a sophomore advisor (SA) and resident advisor (RA) for Residence Life and a student operations assistant for the Asian Student Center (ASC). He also served as a representative for Emory First, which acts as a central hub for first-generation students and students from low- and limited-income backgrounds.
Nguyễn has also volunteered as a peer health partner at the Center for the Study of Human Health, on the board of the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Activists, and as an undergraduate research assistant at the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics.
“I really loved every part of being an SA and RA,” Nguyễn says of embracing opportunities throughout his four years at Emory. “Being able to plan Song Fest but also do programming that helps students get involved in campus — whether that’s through research or navigating courses and extracurriculars in general — has been really formative for me.”
Katherine Hur, assistant director of the ASC, says Nguyễn first reached out to her during his sophomore year with a request to connect residents in Eléonore Raoul Hall with community space programming.
“I know that the underclassmen students really look up to him for his wisdom, his leadership and his huge wealth of knowledge when it comes to resources on campus and community resources in the Atlanta area,” Hur says.
This year, Nguyễn helped bring local artist and activist Julia Kim to campus, coordinating a workshop in which Kim prompted students to self-reflect. The event expanded on Kim’s “You Uninterrupted” installation, a piece of artwork meant to shift stereotypes around Asian Americans.
“We had undergraduate students and graduate students come, and I think that’s part of who Thiên is. He’s plugged into a lot of different communities on campus,” Hur says.
Emory College recognized Nguyễn’s outstanding contributions by presenting him with the Boisfeuillet Jones Medal at Class Day. Named after a prominent Emory alumnus, the award highlights student “change agents” in their field and in society.
Shining a light on lived experiences
Nguyễn’s passion for education equity culminated in his honors thesis, a project titled “Making Them Known: The Lives of Working First-Generation College Students at an Elite University.”
Nguyễn was an Undergraduate Humanities Honors Fellow at the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, where he received mentorship and a research stipend.
His research unpacks the mental health outcomes of working, first-generation college students and draws directly on his early experiences at Emory, in addition to the experiences of his peers.
“I took one of the shuttles to go to work,” Nguyễn reflects, looking back on his first year. “I would do my classes in the morning, hop on the Executive Park shuttle, go to work and wouldn’t get back to my dorm until around 9:30 p.m.
“I think that had a dramatic impact on transitioning [to college],” he adds.“I didn’t get to do a lot of social events or hang out with my friends often because I had to work. Hearing that was common for other first-generation students — whether they worked off campus or on campus — was really something that inspired this project, and I wanted to dig deeper.”
While he was collecting first-generation college student testimonies for his thesis, Nguyễn met Mike Jones, Emory First director.
“He has by far been one of the most proactive student leaders that I’ve had the privilege of working with,” Jones says. “I think his proactiveness not only assisted in his ability to be prepared, but it showed me that he was going to be taking his interviews and student voices very seriously, and he was going to be really thoughtful about how those conversations went.”
Nguyễn says he approached his research through the lens of oral history, giving students the space to tell their stories.
“I wanted to capture more of the humanistic values and parts of their identity beyond just being a first-generation student,” Nguyễn says of the participants he interviewed.
His thesis builds on the framework of work-school conflict: the difficulty of balancing work and school responsibilities.
“I found that what allows students to persist in work-school conflict is familial guilt,” he says. “First-generation students are willing to endure the consequences because they feel a sense of familial guilt from accessing an education that their parents weren't able to receive at their age.”
His honors thesis advisor, professor of sociology Karida Brown, says Nguyễn’s scholarship provides invaluable insight into the lives of “brilliant undergrads” who can struggle to balance work, financial needs and education.
“Thiên’s thesis is the best of sociology. He has left an indelible mark on me as a professor and a mentor here at Emory,” she says.
Nguyễn adds that making information about campus employment more accessible and continuing to support mental health spaces for first-generation students are a few ways to help mitigate the work-school conflict problem.
Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Expression, recently selected Nguyễn to speak during a “Night of Ideas” at The Carter Center that included ambassador and former mayor Andrew J. Young and other speakers. Nguyễn helped lead the introductory session with other students, discussing what the future of civics and education may look like.
He will graduate on Monday, May 11 with highest honors.
After Emory, Nguyễn plans to continue his education and pursue a PhD in sociology and social policy, starting with a research role next year at another university. He ultimately envisions becoming a professor, combining his interests in research and advocacy.