Seattle Central: My Path to Success

Hello everyone! My name is My-Dung or Daisy in English. It's a great pleasure for me to share with all of you a little bit about myself, life in Seattle and the study environment at Seattle Central College. A little about myself ~ I was born and grew up in northern Vietnam and I studied abroad at the age of 17. I graduated from Seattle Central College last December with an Associate's Degree. I study Economics and Finance. I am currently working as a Finance Assistant in the International Education Programs (IEP) Finance Department. After graduating, I was lucky enough to get a full-time job. This is an Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. OPT is an option for F-1 or M-1 students to pursue a paid internship or employment and gain practical on-the-job experience relevant to their field of study. My plan is after the OPT, I will transfer to another 4-year university to complete the last 2 years of a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Finance. I wish to transfer to Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago. Many friends of mine in Vietnam asked me how life in Seattle is, and why I chose Seattle as the first destination for my study abroad journey. As many of you may know, it rains a lot in Seattle, which makes Seattle always green. Therefore, Seattle is known as the Emerald City. There are many high tech companies, such as Boeing, Microsoft, and Amazon, headquartered in Seattle. Life in Seattle is very peaceful yet dynamic because Seattle is also known as the convergence of many different cultures in the world. The second reason why I chose Seattle is because of my study program. I studied abroad after finishing 11th grade in Vietnam. And only Washington state community colleges have a high school program. This program is offered to high achieving students who have not yet graduated from high school, but want to attend a college right away. Every year, 10,000 American students and 2,100 international students from about 75 countries choose Seattle Central College. So what attracts such a large number of students, especially international students, to attend Seattle Central? I would say the first and most important factor is Seattle Central offers a comprehensive range of educational programs and opportunities in academic transfer and career preparation. As I told you before, I chose the high school completion program offered by Seattle Central College. After two years, I earned an Associate of Business degree and WA state high school diploma at the same time. I now can transfer to the 3th and 4th year of a university. Many friends of mine also have come to Seattle Central after the first semester of 10th grade in Vietnam I think this program has saved me a lot of time and money. :) Moreover, the true strength of our college is our extraordinary teaching and learning environment. The class size of 20-35 students makes it easy for students to connect with their professors and classmates. In addition, while attending college, I was working as an intern for the some trade organizations, such as the Washington State Department of Commerce and Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle. The internships not only helped me to broaden my knowledge, but also expand my professional connections. Moreover, the internships created opportunities for me to apply what I have learned in the classroom into practice. The second factor that attracts a large number of students to choose Seattle College is the location. Seattle Central is the only community college in downtown Seattle. Students can easily travel to shopping centers, restaurants, grocery stores, coffee shops, and Little Saigon in 10-20 minute by bus, tram and the new light rail train. In addition, Seattle Central offers several ways to get involved in campus life such as student leadership activities where you can make lifelong connections in and outside classroom. The third factor is tuition and costs. Statistics suggests that the cost of attendance at Seattle Central College is about $18,000-20,000/year including tuition, room and board. I think the figure is quite reasonable and competitive compared to other 4-year institutions with tuition only of $30,000-40,000/year. And the last but not least, Seattle Central was named “College of the Year” in a one-time study by TIME magazine. Also, in a New York Time article, Seattle Central was named in, “For Achievers, A New Destination." "Pretty good, don’t you think? Seattle Central was one of the 11 colleges that best help students to transfer to top universities in the USA. For more information, please visit our College's website: http://www.seattlecentral.edu or our International Education Programs: [email protected] Seattle Central: My Path to Success Producer: Daisy My-Dung Vu Videographer: Tung Thanh Vu