CPaCE News

Originally from Vietnam and currently enrolled as an undergraduate in CSULB’s Health Care Administration (HCA) program, Thi Nguyet Minh Ngo was settling comfortably into her first semester in Fall 2021 when an Instagram post caught her eye. Thi had already received assistance from the Office of International Students and Scholars Services (ISS), which supports international students with immigration advising and other support, and was keeping in touch with ISS through their active social media pages. 

“I saw [the Instagram post] and was like whoa--a scholarship for international students!” Thi exclaimed, describing how she learned about the Study California scholarship. “Because we’re staying at home, the way we connect with the world is through social media, so I found that is one of the highlights of ISS.”  

The prestigious scholarship is offered to international students with an F1 visa who are enrolled full-time in a degree-seeking program and have a minimum GPA of 3.0. During the application process, Thi benefited from constant contact with the ISS office, as she emailed back and forth to get answers to the many questions she had. An orientation session before the semester started was also helpful, and paved the way for Thi to be chosen for the award--one of only five international students to gain that distinction. 

“I had to show my academic ability, financial need, leadership qualities, and my educational and career goals,” said Thi. “I am thankful for the helpfulness of the ISS staff. Without their work, I would not be able to achieve this scholarship.”  

“I would also like to thank Professor Thomas Knego, who teaches Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration,” she continued. “He is one of those professors who is really there to listen to you and give you good recommendations. We built a good mentor-mentee relationship, so I was able to ask him to write a strong letter of recommendation.” 

Thi’s journey to Long Beach began after high school, when she first left her hometown of Ho Chi Minh City and enrolled at Cypress College to complete general education requirements in preparation for her HCA major. It helped that she already had family members already living in Southern California, and a growing Vietnamese community in the area as well. When she was ready to make her next academic move, CSULB seemed like an obvious choice. 

“The more I researched about the school, I learned that it was one of the best value colleges, with a low tuition rate but a quality as good as other places,” she explained. “What is more important is that the school has a lot of majors that focus more on practical approaches than theories.” 

Before she graduates with a bachelor’s degree in Spring 2023, Thi plans to find an internship related to health care compliance later this year. After that, she’ll be on track to continue graduate-level studies, as CSULB has one of the few accredited HCA master’s degree programs in the state. 

“I’m really looking forward to that,” she said. “I will get to go out there and apply the things I study in real professional work.” 

In the meantime, Thi is enjoying life in Long Beach and is looking forward to when she can attend more on-campus events as pandemic-related restrictions begin to ease up. In any case, the benefits of the Study California award are providing a much-needed boost as she pursues her dream career in health care. 

“The scholarship is recognition of my hard work so far,” she said. “It encourages me to strive for my goals, study well, and use my knowledge later when I join the professional environment.” 

Click here to learn more about CSULB’s International Students & Scholars Services.