ROSE ROYALTY. Linda Nguyen is David Douglas High School’s 2009 Rose Festival representative. Fluent in Vietnamese, she plans to attend Oregon State University’s College of Pharmacy in the fall. (Photo courtesy of the Portland Rose Festival)

From The Asian Reporter, V19, #20 (May 26, 2009), page 9.

By Julie Stegeman

David Douglas High School senior Linda Nguyen was chosen to be one of the 15 princesses on the 2009 Portland Rose Festival Court. The only child of Nho Nguyen and Hoa Bang, Linda was born in Vietnam and is half Vietnamese and half Chinese. Linda’s parents are very proud of their daughter’s selection as an ambassador of the Rose Festival. "They’re with me every step of the way," Linda said, adding that her dad has been instrumental in driving her to festival events.

Like all members of the Rose Festival Court, Linda has been very engaged in school activities. She was involved in student government for three years, including two years — sophomore and senior — as class president. She belongs to the National Honor Society, a group that encourages community service, as well as the rocket team, which builds and launches missiles. Linda, a violinist, is also very involved with the David Douglas orchestral groups — symphonic strings, pit orchestra, and full symphony — which all performed at the Oregon School Activities Association state competition this year.

Linda is fluent in Vietnamese and speaks it at home with her parents. She has twice journeyed back to Vietnam. "We have a very strong cultural background," Linda says of her family. "Every Sunday my parents and I teach at Vietnamese school." She also spends time each Sunday teaching traditional Vietnamese dance to young girls. "It’s great having the girls growing up in America be involved with the Vietnamese culture," she said. "It’s really rewarding."

Activities Linda enjoys during the rare down times in her schedule are generally arts and craft related, possibly due to the influence of her father, a Portland artist. Her favorite activities include scrapbooking and creating homemade cards. She is also an avid reader and volunteers at Multnomah County libraries as an on-call page. Her responsibilities at the libraries allow her to see appealing books as she shelves them, which sometimes spur an interest in certain subjects, such as digital photography. "I have a lot of little hobbies that I’ve developed through working at a library," she said.

As for her future endeavors, Linda has been accepted to Oregon State University’s College of Pharmacy through its early admission program, which allows high school seniors to be admitted directly into the Doctor of Pharmacy program. In the competitive curriculum, students finish their undergraduate work in three years and head directly into pharmacy school to earn a Doctor of Pharmacy degree.

Linda became interested in a career in pharmacology during a summer internship with Dr. Jeri Janowsky in the Behavioral Neuroscience Department at Oregon Health & Science University. During the internship, Dr. Janowsky spoke about the importance working with pharmacists had to her research on hormones. In addition, Linda enjoys the interaction pharmacists have with the public. "Pharmacists are hands on and you get to go out into the public and meet people," she said.

Linda is enthusiastic about serving as a Rose Festival princess and acting as David Douglas High School’s ambassador. "It’s been really amazing so far and I’m looking forward to this whole month," she said.

Rose Festival princesses represent their school and act as the "face of the Rose Festival" at many community events, including parades, volunteer activities, luncheons with community and business leaders, and more. The Portland Rose Festival Foundation awards each court member a $3,500 scholarship, courtesy of The Randall Group.

To qualify for the Rose Festival Court, a candidate must be a full-time junior or senior at a 5A or 6A high school in Multnomah, Washington, or Clackamas county and have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0. Potential princesses are evaluated on leadership and scholastic achievement, school activities, civic involvement, volunteer projects, communication skills, and overall impression.

The Portland Rose Festival Queen is chosen at 8:30am on Saturday, June 6 at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum. To learn more, call (503) 227-2681 or visit <www.rosefestival.org>.