Like many Georgia Perimeter College students, Huong Tran juggles a lot of responsibilities including family, school and work. He tutors math students on GPC’s Newton Campus and MESA Club. He takes classes on Newton, Dunwoody and Clarkston campuses. He works at a Conyers nail shop. And he cares for an aging parent. A busy schedule to be sure.

It was no small feat then in between his many responsibilities, Tran found time to improve—and some might say perfect—his math skills. That paid off when he propelled Georgia Perimeter to the No. 1 overall slot during the annual Gainesville Math Tournament, and took home first place honors in the individual competition at the tournament. He was also the highest scorer in the state in the combined American Mathematic Association of Two-Year Colleges competitions for the academic year 2011 and 2012, helping GPC receive its first top ranking in the Southeast since 2006.

All that, while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average.

Tran joined the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement program in 2010, and has received several scholarships, including ENLISTEM (Educate and Nurture Leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics); the F. Lane Hardy Scholarship for Math Students, and the Math Conference scholarship.
Tran’s work ethic and ability to juggle his responsibilities has helped him immensely, notes his MESA professor Dr. Kouok Law.   “He is the best math student I have ever seen at GPC,” Law says.

Success didn’t come easily. When Tran came to the United States in 2008 from Vietnam to be with his parents in Conyers, he first had to learn how to speak English. He spent a half year taking ESL courses at Georgia Piedmont Technical College before transferring to GPC. For the past four years, he has split his time between completing his course load and working.

Engineering was his career goal at first.

“My brother was in electrical engineering at Georgia Tech and said that many of his friends had started at GPC, so I came here,” Tran says.  But he soon found out that he was enjoying his math courses the most, and changed his major to Mathematics.

Now on his way to Georgia Tech, Tran hopes to become a math professor someday. Tran credits his success at GPC to the support of his math and English professors “Their teaching styles really embraced me and made me excited to study and solve problems,” he says.  “I will always remember them and all their help in my education. They helped me feel more confident.”