After seven years at Preuss, Vy Thai, a senior at the Preuss School UC San Diego, has committed to UCLA and is officially a Bruin! As Vy and her class of 2024 prepare to close and say goodbye to her cherished high school years she shares with The Preuss Insider her reflections and advice.
Vy has been involved in many extracurriculars and has obtained high leadership roles such as, Co-Editor-in-Chief for The Preuss Insider, Outreach Coordinator for the Asian/Pacific Islanders (APIA) club, and Social Media Manager for Science Olympiad. Some programs she is involved in are A Bridge for Kids and Access Youth Academy where she practices squash (the sport). Fun fact, Vy is also a triplet, and her brothers, Lam Thai (‘24) and Khang Thai (‘24) are also graduating from Preuss.
At the University of California Los Angeles, Vy will be majoring in public health.
“I knew I wanted to do something medical, but since I don’t know much about the medical field, I decided to major in public health to get a broad overview of the field,” explains Thai (‘24).
Vy’s top two schools she was debating upon were UCSD and UCLA.
“I chose to go to UCLA because it was not in San Diego and I wanted …a new environment. UCSD would be too close to home,” explains Vy. “ I still wanted to be close to home, so UCLA was the perfect medium.” .
Vy had always taken interest in UCLA as its location and academics were up to her high standards.
“[What] drew me to UCLA was the location and their public health major, which was new, and UCLA is known for their medical school in case I do want to pursue medicine. I found it to be a perfect fit.”
After 7 years at Preuss, she realizes how Preuss has shaped her into the person she is today.
“The Preuss community is very supportive and you really get the best teachers that truly care about you, want to succeed…and believe in you,” explains Thai. “You get to know your teachers on more of a personal level [too] and connect with them, as the graduating class at Preuss is much smaller than other schools..”
Believe it or not, 6th grade Vy was very different from Vy now as she was shy, and very “in her bubble”; she didn’t want to try new things. However, we all can see how Vy has blossomed so much since she was a small 6th grader at Preuss.
“I grew a lot from my experiences, thanks to the community at Preuss,” shares Thai.
She reflects on herself and how much she has grown since she first came to Preuss.
“I think younger Vy would be proud of the person she has become and still is becoming and how much she has grown out of her small bubble,” shares Vy. “I would tell my younger self to not be scared and just be myself because it’s boring living in a small bubble and not experiencing new things.”
Although throughout her years she has faced challenges and setbacks, she hopes to see herself pursuing a career that she loves in 10 years.
“In ten years, I hope to have a stable job in public health working with a non-profit organization, helping people of all socioeconomic classes, and I see myself improving the medical services and the healthcare realm since there are a lot of issues and disadvantages that different communities face.”
Although she is indeed excited for this new chapter of her life and ready to embark on her new journey, Vy will dearly miss her teachers and all the people she has grown close to.
“ I will definitely miss…Preuss’s tight-knit community that makes it feel so much like home,” Vy expresses.
Vy’s main source of motivation through it all was her family.
“My mom helped me a lot, she is very inspiring to me, and she works very hard to take care of my brothers and I. She definitely plays a role in my success and [is] my biggest motivation through my entire journey,” says Vy.
Before she officially says “goodbye” to Preuss and “hello” to college, she leaves some words of wisdom to future Preuss students: “Keep in touch with the connections that you have and make with your peers, teachers, and friends and just enjoy the time while you can because it goes by so fast. I went from being a little 6th grader to applying to universities…[so] cherish your time.”
