Vassar Scholar Spreads Awareness About Food Waste
Vassar Scholar Huy Nguyen excels at balancing his academics and giving back to his community in a meaningful way.
An Army veteran who once deployed to Afghanistan, Huy’s interests are just as diverse as his experiences. He is a mathematics major and a Chinese and economics double minor, and is considering adding German to the list.
After completing his freshman year, Huy was selected to participate in the rigorous Middlebury Summer Language Program, where he spent eight weeks studying Chinese. He is considered the “go-to guy” when it comes to his language skills, tutoring some of his Posse members who are also studying Chinese.
This past summer Huy interned at Permanens Capital, an asset management firm. Reflecting on this internship, Huy says “This was my first finance related internship and it was really eye-opening. I served as a medic in the Army, so my academic interests were initially pre-med. This internship gave me a clearer direction of what I wanted to do with my last two years at Vassar.”
“Poughkeepsie and the Vassar community have been really supportive.”
When he’s not being a rock star student, Huy serves as an executive member of the Vassar Food Resource Organization. As a member of this group, he collects leftover food from campus events to donate to local food pantries, the Salvation Army, and local homeless shelters.
“I strongly believe in spreading awareness about food waste. I grew up with my mom telling me not to waste food, and that inspired me to join this organization,” Huy says. Through collaborations with local, like-minded community groups, Huy participated in the annual Feeding the Hudson Valley event, where over 1,000 people were fed.
Asked about his passion behind serving his local community, Huy says, “Moving here from Fort Drum was a drastic difference. Poughkeepsie and the Vassar community have been really supportive, and I feel like giving back is a way to say thank you.”
Huy’s ultimate goal is to use his quantitative and linguistic skills to help financial firms invest in emerging markets and underdeveloped regions to eliminate poverty and improve global living standards.
