TENNIS' NGUYEN SERVES UP ACES ALL AROUND...
CLEVELAND, OH (March 21, 2008) - Some of Kenneth Nguyen's classmates at Clover Hill High School in Midlothian, Va. choose to play sports at the NCAA Division-I level. He chose Case Western Reserve University more on the fact he wanted to pursue a medical career rather then what level he would hit the little yellow ball at.
“Case was my top chose because of its biomedical engineering program (BME) ,” Nguyen said. “I came here for the BME program and being able to play tennis every day was important to me. I probably would not have been able to do both those things at the Division I level.”
Nguyen currently plays No. 5 singles and No. 3 doubles for the Spartans, who have won eight out of their last nine matches, including a 5-0 swing in Hilton Head, S.C. over spring break. He is off to a 7-2 start in singles and 4-4 in doubles. The Spartans next host Allegheny College on Mar. 26.
“I played a lot of tennis my junior year in high school and really enjoyed it,” Nguyen said. “I have enjoyed playing in college as well. It takes my mind off the other stuff I have to do at school and hanging out with the guys has been great.”
Tennis isn't the only thing Nguyen is involved in. Besides majoring in what is considered one of the University's toughest majors [BME/pre-med] and top ranking program [undergraduate program currently ranked seventh in the country by the U.S. News & World Report], Nguyen is also a Residents Assistant (RA).
“[Being an RA] is a lot harder than people make of it,” Nguyen said. “There are some students that I've been able to help guide and push. But the best part is that I have made a lot of connections and friendships that I'll never forget.”
Needless to say his time management skills must be excellent.
“I have a planner and I write everything down in it,” Nguyen explained. “I have a certain pride to do the best I can at everything I do. And doing different things while at Case, it makes my time more enjoyable here.”
Nguyen would like to be a doctor some day. And although the normal route is a biology/pre-med one, he chose BME because he thought the toughness of the curriculum would better prepare him for the rigors of medical school. In the meantime, he is sticking to the BME things, like research.
He often turns in his white tennis shorts and shirt for a white lab jacket to research drug delivery and imaging research in Case Western Reserve's Radiology Department.
“More specifically, the research we are looking into is for cancer,” Nguyen explained. “We are trying to develop a polymer that can be implanted into the human body and cure cancer.”
Polymeric micelles and other aggregates of biocompatible polymers have been studied intensively in recent years for drug delivery purposes and Nguyen and many other students at Case Western Reserve, in small ways, are helping out to help make it more effective and help cure a devastating disease.
Whether he's trying to cure cancer or win a tennis match, Nguyen gives 100 percent in all of his endeavors at Case Western Reserve.
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