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Growing up in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, My Le didn’t know anyone who was a psychologist. In fact, mental health issues weren’t really discussed in Vietnamese society, with many people viewing depression or anxiety as something of a personal failure. As she got older, though, Le’s mother told her about the post-partum depression she had experienced after Le’s birth and how seeing a psychiatrist had helped her get through that difficult period. Le decided she wanted to learn more.
Le took honors English in high school, which laid the foundation for her later application to colleges in the U.S. She had already had some exposure to other cultures because her parents worked in the travel industry: Her mother was a flight attendant for Vietnam’s national airline and her father worked in airport security. Le sent off numerous college applications but it was Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, that offered her the most generous merit-based scholarship. She accepted in 2019 and decided to double major in psychology and economics. “There aren’t a lot of job opportunities for psychology majors in Vietnam so studying economics was a safe choice for me to fall back on if I wasn’t able to find a position,” she says.
The combination of the two fields made sense to her in another way as well. “For me, economics is also about human behavior, the way people make purchasing and other decisions. I love being able to translate my knowledge and see how it is unfolding in my own life.” During her college years, Le’s parents were far away but they would regularly check in with her about her academic choices and ask for the reasoning behind them. Her mother was also diligent in asking about her mood and state of mind.
Le’s college studies were interrupted by the Covid pandemic, and she returned to Vietnam in 2020, taking classes remotely, which involved being in Zoom classes at 2 a.m. She came back to Illinois in 2021 to finish her junior and senior years. Le knew she wanted to go to graduate school in psychology in the U.S., but she wanted to get some work-related experience first. She applied for a position as a research assistant at the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR) at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and began work as a research assistant in late 2023.
Le is currently working on two main projects. One investigates differences in inpatient rehabilitation length of stay and outcomes for spinal cord injury patients in various countries around the world. The other looks at whether people who have experienced a spinal cord injury engage more fully in their rehabilitation therapy if their therapist has been trained in a coaching style known as motivational interviewing. Le will be sitting in as an observer during therapy sessions, but she won't know which therapists have been trained. “I’m not supposed to know whether they are getting the intervention,” she says.
Her next career step will be to apply to graduate schools next year. Until then, she is enjoying her work and exploring Chicago. Le frequently visits the Asian neighborhood along Argyle Street in the Uptown neighborhood, which has both Vietnamese grocery stores and restaurants. “If I need Asian ingredients for something, that’s where I head,” she says. Le also has found a group of Vietnamese friends who are studying at DePaul University in Chicago so she doesn’t feel so alone.