Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Trang Tran

by: Miriam Sluis

The wondrous journey and even more exciting future of Trang Tran

Trang Tran (she/her) is a Vietnamese international student. Trang’s been at PCC for almost two years and has been working for the Multicultural Center at Sylvania since the Fall of 2020. She aspires to be a leader in her field, the owner of a study-coffee shop in Vietnam, and a business interpreter using the many languages she speaks.

Trang has the breadth to see the good in the world. She has come through an incredibly taxing journey to be in the Pacific Northwest, seeing the goodness of her heart reflected in the kindness of others, sponsoring her to study at PCC.

Soon, she will transfer to PSU. But until then, we have the honor and pleasure to celebrate Trang and her sunny demeanor. In the early days of the Spring term, Trang shared her views on her work at the MC, the pandemic and her journey as a Vietnamese student coming to the US.

What inspires you at the Multicultural Center at Sylvania?

“The job at MC Sylvania trains me to be a good leader in the future. I’m being trained about social problems that happen in the world, that I didn’t know about before. Training about colonization, about sexism. In Vietnam I didn’t suffer from racism and colonization. And I didn’t know about sexism.

But at the MC Sylvania, I learned about racism, and how people of color were treated in the US before and now. And I learned about Native Americans and what they suffered in the past and now. All this opened my mind. If I would’ve stayed in Vietnam and I didn’t have an opportunity to study here, I wouldn’t have any clue about all of that.

How do you feel about how Asian people are treated in the US?

“Before the pandemic, it seemed normal to me. I could walk downtown fine and I felt safe here. But after the pandemic and watching all the news, I felt really unsafe .One time, after the protests last summer, I was alone in downtown Portland and a guy came close to me. I was really scared and walked very fast. He called me the f-word. That time I was so scared.

“I kept walking really fast, but he rode a bike and so he was faster than me. There was nobody around me, so I had to run. I ran to a place where there were a lot of people to get help. But luckily, once there, I didn’t see him anymore, so that was good.

“And I love downtown so much, and I want to hang out there, but after that I didn’t want to go again. Those were really scary moments. Now whenever I go, I take pepper spray with me.”

What made you want to come to the US?

“In Vietnam, I was in an orphanage. I lived there for 14 years. The organization it belonged to had an American president, who opened lots of orphanages in Vietnam, to support the kids. And I was one of them.

“This president brought a lot of his American friends to Vietnam. And because I loved speaking English and wanted to practice, I’d talk to my sponsor, who is also sponsoring me now. I just wanted to practice English. And one day she said she wanted to give me the opportunity to study in the US. I was so happy, because that was my dream. And that’s when she brought me to America and Lake Oswego, where I live with her. I’m really lucky. She paid for all my tuition and living expenses.”

“And I love Portland. If I have a job in the future, I’ll choose Portland to work. I don’t like the sun, I just like the rain. And all the trees, and the fresh air and the rain ~ yeah, i love it here. I don’t like the sun because in Vietnam it’s hot every day. That’s why I appreciate it when it rains. When I wake up in the morning and I see the rain, it gives me a good mood for the whole rest of the day.”

Do you feel you can show up in this world as you are?

“Actually, before covid, this world allowed me to be me. I was living in the US, the most developed country with the best education in the world. I knew that I could grow here and I was experiencing a lot of things I’d never experienced before. I was growing into the person I want to be.

“But, because of the pandemic, everything seems really hard for me now. I stay home all the time, I can’t go to campus, I can’t be active like I want to be. I want to make friends and make connections with people, and I can’t do that now.”

How do you envision the future, let’s say 10 years from now here in Portland?

“I believe in a better future. I know the world will become normal again. So I’ll still be myself. Before covid I thought I was an introverted person, that I wanted to be alone and not really talk to a lot of people. But after this covid, I’m reminded of how much I like being with people. So now I think I’m half introvert and half extrovert.

“I want to believe that in ten years, covid will be gone. I feel this pandemic happened for a reason, to teach us to enjoy the moment. Because of this pandemic people have to stay inside and cannot hug and kiss anymore. So covid taught us to be kind to each other. Because of covid, people will treat each other better and they’ll love each other more. So I think after this, people will enjoy the moment more. And enjoy their lives more in the future.

“The world is still developing, so in ten years -maybe more- technology that we never thought will happen, will come about and all the scientists will figure out all the vaccines so people can be together and hug and kiss. And I can go to school, and meet and see everyone in person again.”

Who is most dear to you in your life?

“That would be my dad. He died when I was 13 years old. But he is still here with me, everywhere. He’s the person I loved the most in this world. And he is my inspiration. Whenever I want to give up, I think about him and I get up again and work harder. He’s inspired me a lot through his personality. He taught me to be kind to people. And he’s a perfect man. If I have a boyfriend, I hope he has some qualities that my dad had.”

What would you want for yourself in the future?

“For myself, I hope I’ll be able to become a successful business woman. I hope that I can be a support for my family and my friends. I want to be happy with my family and friends in Vietnam. I would like to have a job here in America after my studies, so I can work in the business field and speak another language. And then I hope I can have my own business in Vietnam.

“At PCC I study Business Administration and I want to transfer to PSU, concentrating on supply chain and logistics. I want to work in this field, because I want to figure out the best way to move goods to the customer. When I was young, I loved to look at how a supply chain works, to see a product go into a box and later end up in the customer’s hand. I want to understand the whole chain, how it works.

“I also want to be an interpreter in the logistics field, because I’m good at languages. I learned English, French and Korean. If I am fluent in these three languages, I will learn Spanish. I chose Business Administration as my major, with a minor in French, because I want to have my own business in the future. Opening a study-coffee shop, where people can come together and study. In Vietnam, because it is not really popular there yet. Where I live in Vietnam, in Danang, there is only one. So I hope after I work here in the US, I’ll have money to open a second one.”