Below is an article from the Houston Chronicle that provides a glimpse into Dr. Anhlan Nguyen’s early life and how it shaped her into the women she is today.
In the dead of night, a rickety boat teeming with people tried to make its way from the coast of Vietnam to international waters, where they hoped to find freedom.
Sixteen-year-old Anhlan Nguyen and her family were on it, fleeing their home after the fall of Saigon during the Vietnam War. The boat was intercepted and returned to land, and those onboard were jailed. Nguyen and her siblings were even prohibited from attending school.
“I loved to study, and I was the best student in my class,” said Nguyen, who now works in IT at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and is a devoted philanthropist and volunteer. “My mother saw this and saved money to try and help me escape one more time.”
In her second attempt, she and 300 others were on a 40-foot boat that sank near the coast.
“I nearly lost my life. It was the most traumatizing thing to happen to me,” Nguyen said. “We almost made it to international waters when our captain said we had to turn back because the boat was going to sink. When we were close to the coast, the boat sank. A lot of people didn’t know how to swim. They drowned.”
The experience impacted Nguyen deeply. “It shaped who I was to see those people die in front of me,” she said.
Her father tried to escape several times and, on his ninth try, made it to safety and then found his way to Canada, where he could be a sponsor to bring over other family members.
She was 22 when she was finally able to leave Vietnam.
Compelled by the horrors of her life there, she immediately began working to help other refugees and enrolled at the University of Toronto, from which she graduated with honors.
Nguyen has been honored for her efforts to engage Vietnamese youth, receiving the “Local Hero” award given by the Bank of America in 2006 and the Women’s Empowerment Leadership Award in 2011.
She also has received national attention. President Barack Obama appointed her to the Vietnam Education Foundation board, which strengthens U.S.-Vietnam relations through education initiatives.
“Each of us, when we’re born, we’re born with a gift, even if you don’t know it,” Nguyen said. “Find your passion. There will be a lot of noise from parents and others. Ignore it.”
When Nguyen arrived in Canada, she spoke some English but found conversation difficult to follow.
In time, her English-speaking skills improved, she graduated from college with honors and got a job right away. She met her husband in Canada, and the couple moved to Houston in 1994.
She arrived knowing no one but quickly networked her way through half the city, said Michelle Tran, who has been mentored by Nguyen. The two met in 2009 through Len Duong Camp, a youth-leadership camp Nguyen founded.
“She’s that person who’s commenting on your Facebook wall about anything you’ve done,” Tran said. “She knows everyone, what they’re up to and accomplishing.”
Her passion also has inspired her to lead multiple humanitarian efforts on behalf of flood and hurricane victims, most notably those of Hurricane Katrina.
“Sometimes I’m surprised she has a full-time job with all the work she does in the community,” said Cindy Dinh, another woman mentored by Nguyen. “She has a tireless dedication to civic engagement and empowering young people.”
The two met when Dinh was honored in the Youth Excellence Recognition Program, which recognizes local high school valedictorians and salutatorians of Vietnamese ancestry.
“I felt compelled to do something when I first came here,” Nguyen said, “I was blessed by all these freedoms. I wanted to be an advocate for students.”
Nguyen credits her philanthropic spirit to a passion for helping others, even when her family told her she should do less in order to focus on her own studies.
“The best way to live your life, to live any life, is to align what you love with what you do,” Nguyen said. “That is happiness, and that is what I do.”