Tony's Background
Tony Truong is a 27-yr old chemical engineer based in San Jose, California. Tony was born in Can Tho, and grew up between Vietnam and Singapore, completing high school in Singapore.
After high school, Tony decided to move to the United States for college. In 2017, he applied to Drexel University to study chemical engineering. He chose chemical engineering because it was the perfect mix of fun and useful. After being accepted, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to start his studies.
He was able to finance his studies by winning a scholarship, and took advantage of Drexel university’s co-op program to accumulate experience and fund his education by working part-time as part of his degree.
Concerning the move, Tony explained it was relatively easy to adapt to the American college experience because of his time in Singapore. He did however have to change his Singaporean accent, because Americans couldn’t understand him and where his accent came from.
Adapting To The USA
Tony emphasised adapting to the United States wasn’t easy, but perseverance got him through the process. He explained the United States can be welcoming, but that it often lies on the individual to adapt themselves and actively seek out opportunities.
After completing his degree, Tony found a job and moved to San Jose in 2022 to pursue it. He now lives there, and is still working the same job.
However, Tony said his biggest challenge when moving to the United States wasn’t social integration, but the administrative hurdles to employment.
He explained that career progression was made difficult because of him being a foreigner and requiring additional paperwork that some companies weren’t willing to deal with.
East Coast vs. West Coast
When asked whether he preferred Philadelphia or San Jose, Tony was unequivocal about his preference for San Jose, but did explain that his financial situation while studying in Philadelphia made it harder to appreciate the city fully.
He added that the pay and opportunities in the Tech field are much more abundant in California, and the population is more diverse than in Philadelphia.
On the differences between the two cities, Tony explained that people in both places were unexpectedly nice and accommodating to him. While he found a thriving Vietnamese community in both cities, the one in San Jose is much bigger and the restaurants are more familiar to him.
Keeping In Touch And Making New Friends
Tony admitted it can be hard to keep in touch with friends from home. While he still talks to his family every week, his friend group is now largely local.
He explained he does have quite a few Asian friends, about half, but the other half are from other, more diverse backgrounds. Tony emphasized that for new arrivals, they should seek out people in similar situations.
“You don’t have to be alone in feeling lonely”. Student associations are a good place to look, he said, and some colleges/universities have associations specifically for students arriving from Vietnam.
As for the future, Tony isn’t entirely sure about his career path, but he hopes he’ll be able to travel and work in different places (hopefully Europe). He talked about the importance of adaptability and cherishing relationships while they last, equipped with this knowledge, we wish him the best of luck for the future.