Quan Khuc is a first-year international student at DePauw! He comes from Vietnam. Quan is wanting to study chemistry or pre-engineering. Chemistry is his favorite subject. He also was voted as one of the first-year senators.
Her Campus: Congratulations on making senator! How does it feel?
Quan Khuc: I felt extremely happy. I also know I must take on a huge responsibility as a senator. Some things I was campaigning for and plan to do is improve the communications between the different class years: the first-years, the sophomores, the juniors and seniors. I especially want the freshman class to get to know each other because a lot of freshmen are still meeting, so social events should help. At those events, I also want to increase communications between international students and American students because it’s not easy coming here from a different country, so having more friends helps.
HC: It sounds like you have big plans! How are you going to make those a reality?
QK: In the senate chamber, we have a community. I want to collaborate with my community of first-year senators as well as the upper-class community of senators to make things happen. I think the process and event planning will take time because the school has not done as many events as we have in mind. I hope it will be a success during this year.
HC: As an international student, what are some of the differences you notice about school here versus in Vietnam?
QK: For the school year, we have way more reading here than in Vietnam. We have a lot more homework here as well. The subject of science is harder in Vietnam though. We learn all the categories of science, chemistry, biology, physics, etc. Something I wish we would have learned more about in Vietnam are different cultures and social studies. Those are interesting, but our focus was on science. I think the academic curriculum is balanced here; you learn of everything in different subjects.
HC: How did you hear about DePauw and what made you want to come study here?
QK: First, I chose to want to go to a liberal arts school because I wanted a balance between science and social studies. Then, while going through all the options of those liberal arts schools, I found DePauw. What brought me here was the value of respect and inclusion. I want to go to a school where my values are invited and encouraged. If a school and class is too big, your values are not as taken into consideration; I wanted to matter.
HC: Lastly, is there anything you miss back home that you can’t get here?
QK: I miss the food in Vietnam. I miss my family. I also miss my Vietnamese friends. The way domestic students talk here as well as what they talk about is different than back at home. There are some places back in Vietnam that I used to go to like clubs or restaurants. Specifically, there are these entrances before you enter a metropolitan area in a city, they are called old quarters. My favorite is called Old Quarter Hanoi. They are all lively and booming with people, very crowded. I miss that culture.