Tristan Ly

Student

“Everyone thinks it’s destroyed, but I’ve been back to Vietnam twice. And it’s growing into a very developed country.”

After all the conflicts it’s been through in this century, the small nation of Vietnam looks like it’s turning the corner. Tristan Ly, president of the SMC International Students Club, has been a witness. “My brother is an architect with a big firm in Tokyo, and they’re building a new city—South Saigon—for a million people. It will have universities, residences and businesses, like Hong Kong. My country is really aiming for a piece of the Asian market now,” says Tristan. And he plans to be right there in the thick of all that international commerce.

“I hope I’ll be transferring to the American University in Paris, but there’s always the issue of money,” says the young man who has worked full time to finance his studies. “But if that doesn’t work out, I’ll get my international business degree in Dominguez Hills—even if it’s not Paris,” he says with a laugh. But wherever college takes him, Tristan has plans to be a citizen of the world. “I love to travel, and being the president of our club has been very exciting for me. I’ve made a lot of friends at SMC from all over the world, and I think it’s fascinating to meet people from all these different cultures. But that includes Americans, too,” he says. “And I wish more people from the U.S. would join us so we can all learn more about each other.”

Any spare time he’s had, Tristan has devoted to being a leader in the Boy Scouts. “A lot of my former scouts are already in college and calling me to report their successes,” he says. “I think I will always be involved in situations where—like at SMC or in the Scouts—you have a lot of different kinds of people thrown together and doing everything they can to get along.”

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