Numbers and the Stories They Tell
Hoang Minh Nguyen '19
Hoang Nguyen ’19 has a passion for numbers and the stories hidden behind them. That’s why he interned at AhaMove, a startup based in Hanoi, to analyze incentive programs that improved employee performance. His professors have inspired him to conduct similar research, leading to a research project with a military college for his Empirical Data Analysis class.
Majors:
International business & management and economics.
Clubs and organizations:
Honors/scholarships/awards:
Benjamin Rush Scholarship, Hugh B. & Helen K. Woodward Scholarship, Dean's List, the Delaplaine McDaniel Prize.
Favorite book:
For One More Day by Mitch Albom.
Favorite movie:
It Happened One Night (1934).
Favorite place on campus:
Morgan Field.
On choosing a major:
At first, I didn’t know what I really wanted to study. It was a difficult decision. I understood that no matter what I chose, a sharp business mindset and an understanding of global affairs is always important.
Favorite class/learning experience:
My favorite class so far has been Empirical Data Analysis, a 300-level international business & management elective by [Professor of International Business & Management] Steve Erfle. It introduced me to data science, and to how useful, powerful and exciting it is. The ability to tell stories hidden behind numbers fascinated me. Thanks to this class, I have realized my passion for working with numbers and decided to strive to be a data scientist.
If I could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, it would be …
… Steve Jobs.
What’s your proudest accomplishment?
My three-month internship last summer in an e-commerce delivery company.
On studying abroad:
I am currently doing a one-semester abroad program at the University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, U.K. Seeing all the differences in this new educational environment, I have come to appreciate Dickinson’s liberal-arts education a lot, especially in terms of choosing what I want to study. Here at UEA, students need to choose their majors before enrolling, and there’s hardly any room for change. On the other hand, at a liberal-arts college like Dickinson, I've had opportunities to explore my interests in other academic fields. This is very important to me.
As a kid, I wanted to be …
… a soccer player.
On my internship:
I interned at AhaMove, an e-commerce (digital-based) delivery service company in Hanoi, Vietnam. I was partly responsible for analyzing incentive programs aimed at increasing drivers’ quality. The most appealing aspect of this internship is the company’s relatively new model of service and the fact that it is a startup, which I believe is the best environment in which to learn.
Of the many things I learned from this internship, the most important one was getting a feel of the experience of being a data scientist.
In a perfect world …
… people will say everything they think.
Biggest influence:
My mother. I learned from her that the most important thing in life is always family.
On my research:
Last semester I conducted research on health and exercise performance of cadets in a military college. It was a project for my Empirical Data Analysis class. I chose it partly because I was inspired by other research on health and exercising performance by my advisor, Steve Erfle. It was through this project that I got my first experience in data science.
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Published April 13, 2018