The WSOS team caught up with WSOS alumna, Tuyen Truong to hear more about her Scholar story. Tuyen is currently a UX Designer at Expedia.

What do you miss the most about college? The least?

The things I miss most about college are seeing friends every day, free gym access, and learning something new every day. I do not miss homework or exams.

How did the Opportunity Scholarship impact you?

The Opportunity Scholarship enabled me to pursue extracurricular activities such as volunteer, work, and immerse myself in the whole college experience by lessening financial burdens that I could not have managed otherwise.

Tell us how you landed your job at Expedia?!

I found my current position on LinkedIn, applied, then messaged the recruiter via LinkedIn. After several rounds of phone calls, I was invited to a final-round interview. A few days prior to the final-round, I was given a list of interviewers who I’d be meeting with. I asked one of my previous colleagues from a previous internship if he knew any of the interviewers at Expedia and he did because he used to work at the organization. He helped me out a lot by giving me a positive recommendation. I passed the final-round and the rest is history.

What’s the last book you read?

Educated by Tara Westover. I finished this book in less than a week! It was by far one of the best books I’ve ever read… it’s a memoir about how education allowed Tara to break free from her father’s complicated beliefs of the government and other traditional ways. 10/10 highly recommend.

What are your guilty pleasures?

Travel and bubble tea.

Where do you hope to be five years from now?

I’ve tried to move away from Seattle, but I always find myself returning. Seattle is home. In five years, I hope to be a senior UX Designer – mentoring junior designers in their career and taking on bigger initiatives.

Any advice you’d give yourself if you could go back in time to being a college freshman?

Be kind to yourself and carve out time each week to allow yourself to participate in a fun activity, event, or do nothing. If you’re going to class each day with the mindset of graduating with a degree, you’re doing it wrong! College is so much more than that… this is the time to meet people, take risks, get uncomfortable, fail, and have fun.