Hi hi! My name is Allyn, pronounced UH-leen, Nguyen. I am a 4th year PhD student in the Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Ecology Department, or EEOB for short. My specific field of research is in comparative muscle physiology. I am very into the fitness/active lifestyle and love the outdoors. I was born and raised in SoCal, in the Los Angeles (LA) area... but I’m not just a city girl who loves food and boba... you can find me in the woods camping or at those spartan races if I’m not in the city.

I am a first-generation college student in my family who came from Vietnam to California as refugees escaping the war. My family abruptly uprooted themselves with nothing but the clothes on their backs to get to California. I credit all my successes to them being models of perseverance and drive. As an undergraduate student at Cal Poly Pomona, I studied Zoology, trying to follow in the footsteps of my role model... Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter! But as I went through my college career, I knew it would take more than wrangling crocodiles and liking animals to make an impact on the science community. This interest led me to earn my master’s degree afterward at Cal Poly Pomona. At Cal Poly Pomona, they geared us towards teaching, and I took a ton of workshops and teaching opportunities to work on my pedagogical skills. After a two-year “break” after my master’s (I was teaching and doing research), I decided I wanted to go back to develop my skills further; hence, I am now pursuing my PhD at UC Riverside.

[Image description: A little girl riding a pet alligator] 

Caption: Me conducting field work.

I am no stranger to hardships. I’ve had alopecia areata totalis since I was seven and a plethora of other autoimmune diagnoses throughout my life. I learned to be compassionate and share empathy with students, but I also want to let them know that things can get hard, but there is always a light at the end of that tunnel. I applied to be a TADP consultant to spread the mindset that teaching is a very useful skill. We are making an impact, developing skills as teachers, and setting examples for the generations to come. We should want to make a difference, whether our impact is small or large. I am most excited to meet the TAs involved with this program and hear all their perspectives and ideas.