Open Minds Open Doors

Xin chào, 你好, こんにちは、Hello! My name is My Nhan. I was born in Hong Kong and spent the first 9 months of my life in a refugee camp until my parents immigrated to the U.S., where I’ve spent most of my life living right here in the Des Moines area.

What I love about the international relations major is that in the midst of trying to understand the world I found myself. My experiences from childhood and youth inspired in me the lofty goal of wanting to make profound changes in the world, such as the alleviation of poverty. As I started my educational career at Drake I slowly realized the weight of my ambitions as knowledge spread to doubt about how we could hope to solve the world’s problems.

However, as the interdisciplinary nature of the major led me to take courses in a variety of fields from political science to economics to history, I began to view each subject through an international lens. I started to think about the connections and implications that those subjects had in the international realm, and I realized how international relations brought together all my various streams of thoughts in one comprehensive whole. Then it dawned on me that the questions themselves were my passion for international relations. International relations and the issues that revolve around it are matters that I truly care about. And through knowledge comes not only questions but answers, or at least the kernels of the possibility of answers. When I came to that conclusion, it made me feel I was right where I wanted to be. And though the issues in international relations are complex, by being aware of those issues I feel empowered as an individual and member of the international community to engage and interact in discussions that have global impacts.

I have always known that I wanted to have a career that allowed me to help people. Through shadowing experiences and my own fair share of medical treatments, I discovered a passion for nursing and the impact they can have on a patient’s experience while receiving care. I know that I would like to work with infants or children, but the beauty about nursing is how much flexibility there is in the career, and I’m sure nursing school will introduce me to so many more fields that I’ll love!

When going through the college selection process, I knew that Drake was the best fit for me. I ended up choosing Drake because of the community aspect and the smaller class sizes, which has allowed me to form relationships with peers and faculty that I would’ve never gotten at a bigger school. As a student wanting to go into healthcare, I also knew that there were so many opportunities in the Des Moines area to get connected with health professionals. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Drake, and wasn’t ready to move to another school to complete my nursing degree, which is why I was so excited when Drake introduced their own Accelerated Bachelor of Sciences in Nursing program.

My favorite memory from Drake so far is Drake Relays every April. I might be a bit biased because I am a Track and Field athlete, so I love watching all the events on the Blue Oval, but the entire campus gets transformed in a way during Relays Week. There are events all week long for students to enjoy and everyone always seems to look forward to it.

Since Drake is a smaller campus, you really get to form relationships with a lot of the faculty here. Personally, that has been one of my favorite things about being a Pre-Nursing Health Sciences student at Drake. A lot of my professors had remembered from past conversations that I was interested in pursuing a career in nursing, and they were so excited to share with me that Drake was wanting to start their own ABSN program. It is genuinely so nice to have professors that have your best interests in mind and uplift you throughout your time at Drake.

While at Drake I have been able to balance being a two sport athlete while still maintaining good academic standing. I am very proud of my academic achievements, such as making the Dean's or President’s list every semester thus far, but I also have been able to make impacts in other areas on campus through organizations that I have leadership positions in. I am currently the Vice President of HOSA, Campus Involvement chair for Drake University Dance Marathon, and a Track and Field representative for Drake Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Being involved on campus and also serving in the community through various volunteer opportunities has been incredibly rewarding.

The one piece of advice that I would give to future Drake students is to view these years in college as a huge opportunity. College is really the last time in your life that you can experiment and try so many different things, and even if you don’t like something or you’re not good at it, you can laugh about it and move on. Between clubs, organizations, volunteer opportunities, and athletics, there’s so much at Drake for you to be a part of. Don’t take yourself too seriously or get so wrapped up in your own little bubble that you stop making time to have fun. Everyone wants to say that they’re “too busy” but one day college will be over and then it’s out into the real world, so don’t take this time in your life for granted.