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First-generation student finds connections on campus

Woman with a hand propped on her right hip standing outside.

For Sarah Tra, a senior in the Honors College, enrolling at the University of South Carolina was a huge milestone in her life. As a first-generation college student and an Asian American, she worried about whether she would be able to find community and connect to her culture on campus.

“I know about my heritage through my family, all their stories and traditions we have at home,” says Tra, who was born in Greenville to parents who emigrated from Vietnam. “But I also wanted to see what culture looked like and meant outside of my home.”

Tra says her experience in a predominantly white high school did not offer her opportunities to get to know many Vietnamese people outside of her family. One of her goals in going to college was to get involved, and she hoped USC would help her connect with people in the Asian American and Vietnamese communities on campus.

It wasn’t long before she heard about USC’s Vietnamese Student Association and the Asian and Pacific Islander Activism Association. As a member of these organizations, she has been able to connect with her community through fundraisers, rallies and events that showcase culture through food, music and dance.

Now, Tra is president of Pacific Islander association as well as a leader in Vietnamese association, and she is also a university ambassador.

“As an ambassador, I tell prospective students that no matter where they end up, it’s important to find that sense of community and belonging because, ultimately, that's going to make them feel like themselves,” she says. “That’s why it was super important for me to be involved, specifically with APIAA and VSA. I wanted to find that sense of community for myself. And now, as an upperclassman and executive in those organizations, I'm able to give back to a community that gave so much to me and help other people find that sense of community.”

One way she’s done that is through hosting events that foster and encourage community with APIAA and its sister organizations like VSA and the Filipino American Student Association. She’s also been able to get involved in the Columbia community by volunteering at a local clinic.

“I volunteer at the Good Samaritan Clinic, a free medical clinic that predominantly serves a Hispanic population,” says Tra, who is a biological sciences student minoring in Spanish and medical humanities & culture. “It’s for people who, unfortunately, don't have consistent, adequate access to health care. And so being able to be a part of that initiative has made a really big impact on who I am.”

"I wanted to find that sense of community for myself. And now, as an upperclassman and executive in those organizations, I'm able to give back to a community that gave so much to me and help other people find that sense of community.”

Sarah Tra

Since she was young, Tra has wanted to pursue health care but wasn’t sure in what capacity. She eventually decided to pursue medical school, though she says she plans to take a gap year for a research internship.

“I'm interested in everything, but I’m going to use my time in medical school to figure out what interests me most,” she says.

During her sophomore year at USC, Tra started working in the Translational Auditory Neuroscience Lab, where she is now an undergraduate research assistant. The lab focuses on human communication and improving the quality of life for people with hearing impairments.

Through this work, she developed an interest in neurology, particularly how speech and sound work in the brain. For her honors thesis, she is researching how infants with cochlear implants perceive speech. Her work looks at situations when speech is being directed from one adult to another while the baby listens or directly to the infant — and compares how each helps the child to perceive sound and learn language.

But her interest in the subjects of hearing and neurology also has roots in a personal connection.

“My grandpa has Alzheimer's, and before being diagnosed, he was hard of hearing,” she says. “I learned through my research and courses that as your hearing deteriorates with age, it can develop into neurological diseases like Alzheimer's.”

Whether she pursues research in medical school or goes on to work in a patient care setting, Tra says her experience at USC has prepared her for the next chapter of her life.

“I've had such an amazing time learning everything — my major and minors have really combined all my interests,” she says. “Everything that I've learned through the courses that I’ve taken through the Honors College has made me the person that I am today.”

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