Viet high school counselor won Yale’s “Educator Award”

Huy Tran (left) helping senior Derik Pham apply to colleges. Photo by Olivia Le, La Quinta H.S. Yearbook photographer, courtesy of Huy Tran.

A Vietnamese-American counselor at a high-Viet-concentration high school in Bolsavikland has been honored by Yale University with its Educator Award.

Huy Tran, Head Counselor at La Quinta High School in Garden Grove, was one of 52 educators to receive the award, which is given to educators worldwide.

The Bolsavik, in his other capacity at his other job, spoke to Tran, who said he was particularly proud that the nomination came from a former student, affirming the importance of his work.

According to a press release from the Garden Grove USD, the “prestigious recognition honors outstanding educators from around the world who have inspired their students to achieve at high levels. Newly admitted Yale students are invited to nominate high school educators, and a committee of Yale admissions officers reviews the nominations and designates the recipients.”

This year, 175 peole were nominated, and 36 teachers and 16 counselors were selected.

Tran was nominated by Christina Bui, a Yale first-year student who graduated from La Quinta in the Spring. In the nomination essay, Bui writes, “Mr. Tran endeavors to interact and understand his students on a personal level. As a counselor, he advises, teaches, and encourages students to try harder and to take classes that challenge them.”

Other student sources told the Bolsavik that Mr. Tran has a reputation of something of a “mean” counselor. Bui, however, didn’t see it that way and wrote, “On a personal basis, he is charming and always welcoming of discussions and conversations about school and life in general.”

Bui writes about her own interactions with the counselor:

“”In addition to taking care of his designated set of assigned students, he also has additional responsibilities to oversee the entire counseling office. And yet, he still makes time for me. On top of that, he is not even my assigned counselor!”

When Bui was preparing for her admission interview to Yale, Tran stayed more than two hours past closing time to prepare her for the interview. “By the end of the conversation, I felt confident in myself and in my abilities, and I had learned a great deal about Mr. Tran as a person,” Bui writes.

Tran considers La Quinta High School as “a great place to be able to give back to the community.”

The school is 70% Viet, but lacks Vietnamese-speaking staff in the front office. As a result, “I talk to all kinds of parents every day,” Tran recounts.

Tran ends up helping parents in everything, not just the stuff a counselor usually does. “Some days I may even help the parents write the notes that excuse the kids’ absence for being sick,” he says.

“I feel pretty important,” Tran chuckles. “I feel like I’m helping a lot.”

As Head Counselor, Tran also tries to reach out to all students, “not just the ones that come in to see their counselors.” The school has more students than the skeletal counseling staff can handle, but Tran doesn’t see it as an excuse not to reach every student.

“Information on college applications, we go to the classrooms and give presentations.Information on financial aid, we go to the classrooms and give presentations. Scholarships too. We try to get everyone involved.”

For the Educator Award, Tran gets a recognition letter from Yale, accompanied by a deskset with pens and a globe. Tran puts it on his desk, a reminder of how significant his work is to his students, he says.

And of a job well done too.