Scholar Spotlight
Viviane Nguyen: Making her Mark on Fashion and Entertainment
As a lifelong fashion enthusiast with a talent in math, Nguyen quickly gravitated to Marketing upon entering UH. “Marketing allows me to express both my analytical and artistic sides,” she explains. The Tier One Scholar takes academics very seriously and has made the Dean’s List every semester. To Nguyen, however, excelling inside the classroom is not enough. The junior actively seeks opportunities to further develop her skills. This year, she serves as the Director of Marketing for Frontier Fiesta, the major three-day festival that is the University’s oldest tradition. Although she holds an immensely challenging position, Nguyen sees the opportunity as a testing ground for different approaches to her work: “Through this experience, I’ll have a better idea of what works and what doesn’t, and that is an important part of knowing how to market.”
As big as Frontier Fiesta is, Nguyen also works on other projects. As a freshman, Nguyen began a fashion blog as an outlet for her passion for fashion. “I quickly learned that showing fashion is better than writing about it, so I transitioned the blog to Instagram and am considering branching out into YouTube and experimenting with different media,” Nguyen explains. Over the summer, Nguyen teamed up with a group of fellow students to embark on an even more ambitious project: produce a TV show. “We’ve planned out the arc of the series and have developed the characters--we even have a 50-page script for the pilot!” Nguyen exclaims. Not yet named, the show is a comedy revolving around two roommates’ quest for fast fame and fortune. Although not yet ready for production, she continues to fine-tune the script amidst her busy schedule. While Nguyen had long considered producing her own show, it was her involvement in the Honors College Club Theater that drove her to make the idea a reality.
Nguyen’s experience in the Honors College has been integral to her development at UH. “I remember walking into an Open House while in high school and thinking, these are my people.” Impressed by the Honors College both before and after joining, Nguyen joined Honors Ambassadors to share her positive experience with prospective students. She enjoys organizing recruitment events and taking part in the annual Honors Retreat. “Applying to the Honors College was the best decision I’ve ever made,” Nguyen says.
This past summer, Nguyen spent two weeks on the Honors Study Abroad trip to Greece. Immersed in the culture, she fondly recalls haggling with vendors on the streets of Athens, riding a donkey through Rhodes, and racing through the original Olympic stadium, just as the original champions had millennia ago. The trip also provided a chance for her to bond with fellow Honors students. “I went in only knowing a few people there really well, but by the end we all clicked,” Nguyen recalls.
With a little less than two years remaining in her undergraduate career, Nguyen plans to continue exploring her interests and developing her skills. This coming summer, Nguyen will travel to Panama with Bauer Global Brigades to teach financial literacy and create business plans for communities. Additionally, she recently applied to the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship. Through the prestigious program, Nguyen hopes to equip herself with the knowledge and experience needed to tap into the worlds of fashion and entertainment.
Nguyen’s ambition has been fueled by the Tier One Scholarship. Nguyen remarks, “I remember the excitement of getting the red booklet in the mail. The Scholarship has given me a lot of freedom to explore my interests without having to worry about finances. I can focus on my activities and building my brand.”