The Path Not Taken

Hoang Huynh and Mimi Truong fled Vietnam as teens. They never stayed anywhere long; from Fort Smith to Biloxi, New Jersey to California, financial stability was always a move away. It was Houston, nine years ago, that took their oldest in a gang shooting.

They fled again, to Pawtucket, where middle son Tinh, his lost brother’s wallet and its freight of memories in his pocket, decided it was time to test his mind. At URI, he discovered his strengths and his goal: “Being a doctor,” he says, “would put me in a position to be on the front lines helping people.’’

The three years since Tinh graduated have been another kind of test—of patience, and resolve. He’s been an EMT and manicurist at his parents’ salon. He’s volunteered at Providence’s Rhode Island Free Clinic and shadowed doctors at Rhode Island Hospital. With help from URI’s Health Professionals Advisory Committee, he’s studied for his MCATs, sent off applications, prepped in mock interviews. He’s now a Big Brother.

This fall, finally, the next test: med school in Vermont.

“I want my parents to look at me,” Tinh says, “and say, ‘This is why we came to America.’”

—Elizabeth Rau