Student Snapshot: Ngoc Phuong Linh Nguyen ’22
Ngoc Phuong Linh Nguyen ’22 (quantitative economics) has traveled to nine countries so far to study abroad and conduct research, including through Dickinson’s Oxford program. She served a data-science summer internship and also conducted summer research on a land-consolidation program in her native Vietnam, where she connected with an experienced Google engineer. On campus, she’s involved with the Arts Collective, and was a two-year member of Mock Trial.
Hometown:
Ha Tinh, Vietnam.
Major:
Clubs and organizations:
Arts Collective and Mock Trial.
Honors/scholarships/awards:
Jo Anne J. Trow Scholarship, Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society, Dean’s List, Dickinson Arts Collective Juried Show (second prize, 2020), Outstanding Vietnamese Youth for Best Academic Achievements & Social Contributions (Youth Union of Vietnam), Vietnamese Representative for the Ship for Southeast Asian and Japanese Youth Program, and the National High School Mathematics, Physics and English Award (second-highest score nationwide).
Favorite books:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and Tuổi Thơ Dữ Dội by Phùng Quán.
Favorite movie:
Grave of the Fireflies.
Favorite place on campus:
The library’s Biblio Café. My favorite drink is the chai latte.
Favorite Dining Hall food:
Chicken noodle soup.
On choosing Dickinson:
An alum told me about how great and helpful the professors are at Dickinson, and she is not wrong!
Favorite class/learning experience:
I was on the Dickinson Mock Trial team for two years. I had a chance to learn about legal practices in the U.S., travel to multiple places for tournaments and audit at the Cumberland County Courthouse during my winter break. The team during my first year at Dickinson was very supportive of new members, and they taught me a lot and gave me as many opportunities to attend competitions as those who were very experienced.
Favorite professor: Professor of International Business & Management Steve Erfle. His classes and reading materials are intriguing, and I really like his Playing with Polygons project. For someone like me who loves both math and the arts, this project brings much joy and curiosity!
On studying abroad:
I have been to nine countries for studying, participating in exchange programs and conducting research. I am really proud that I had time to experience each of those places either by staying there for a long time, learning about the political system through interviewing government officials or living among the natives and learning about them, rather than just visiting for vacations.
I had an excellent experience at Oxford University last year. The courses were challenging, but they sparked my interest in development economics and my plan for graduate study. England is also great; I had a chance to visit its beautiful countryside, see the old castles, embrace more Van Gogh paintings and have delicious tea!
As I kid, I wanted to be …
… a fashion designer or artist.
About my internship:
I interned as a data scientist at Sangsoft Ltd. in Vietnam. It is a technology startup, and I was surprised by how much I learned. The work gave me a lot of creative freedom, as I mined data from various online sources to build a model to predict rental prices in Vietnam. I improved my programming skill in R and Python immensely, and I also had a chance to work with an experienced engineer from Google, who taught me a lot about machine learning!
Little-known hobby/talent:
I love doing puzzles, both online and offline.
About my research:
During summer 2020, I heard of the land-consolidation program in Central Vietnam, which seemingly contradicts the widely known inverse relationship between land size and productivity. In other words, most of the past research results have shown that increasing land size lowers productivity. If this is true, then the consolidation program might do more harm than good.
To research this topic, I interviewed 504 Vietnamese farm households in my hometown, and I found that the program has a high potential of bringing benefits to the farmers. I had a chance to talk with several renowned professors working in this field as well as to connect to multiple farm businesses and households to better understand the current living standard and farm practices in Vietnam.
Best thing about my Dickinson experience:
Dickinson facilities for all my hobbies, and I have a lot! I can do live drawings, learn to dance, play the piano, go swimming and much more. I can also read in the library while enjoying the Biblio Café’s chai latte!
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Published January 10, 2022