Out of the 390 students set to graduate on May 21, 2017, senior Toe Aung is the only one who won his green card through the U.S. Green Card Lottery Program and came over 8,000 miles from Myanmar (formerly Burma) to Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. While he knew little English upon his arrival, Aung did not let that stop him from grasping opportunities, achieving academic success, and turning his dream of becoming a professor into a reality. He is currently enrolled in a highly-competitive PhD program in anthropology at Penn State University, “the top anthropology program in the U.S., according to the National Research Council,” for the fall.

 

A Passion for Research

As a psychobiology major with a minor in evolutionary studies, Aung has a passion for pursuing research, especially alongside Psychology Professor and Director of the Evolutionary Studies Program at Albright College, Dr. Susan Hughes. During his time at Albright, Aung, a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship, was additionally awarded over $16,000 in research grants as an undergraduate. When asked about his research grants, Aung excitedly described the funding as “social support that gives you money. It makes me feel good!” Besides receiving impressive research grants, Aung participated in three ACREs and presented 16 times at conferences across the United States and Canada, all while maintaining his spot on the Dean’s list every semester. In addition, Aung is a prospective Jacob Albright Scholar and is continuing to pursue research, as he is presenting research from his senior thesis at the NorthEastern Evolutionary Psychology Society conference in June.

 

Future Goals

Aung is already working to pursue his dream of becoming a professor with the ultimate goal of teaching courses on human behavior in psychology, and he would “prefer to have the university on a beach,” something he looks forward to enjoying with his future wife. Aung stressed that ultimately, “family is more important than the career.” He expressed deep gratitude for the financial support his parents have provided him to pursue his dream and has made every effort to not “waste” his parents’ money, but instead “strive for the dream.” Aung has hopes that his parents and brother will come and live in the United States in the future.

 

Prospective Students, “Just come here!”

Aung never visited Albright’s campus before making the Albright decision. When Aung sees prospective students walking across campus on tours, he wants to tell them: “you don’t even need to visit just come here. You won’t regret it. That’s what I did.”