Tuan Bui

August 05, 2024 - 01:17 PM

Tuan Bui is a newly transferred rising junior at UC Berkeley's College of Letters and Sciences (L&S), pursuing a dual major in Linguistics and Cognitive Science. Before transferring, he completed 10 courses in languages and linguistics at Mt. SAC, focusing on Japanese, Korean, Latin, and Linguistics.

Tuan's Academic Journey from Mt SAC to UC Berkeley:

I am of Vietnamese, Japanese, and Korean descent, but my primary language exposure has been in Vietnamese, with some Chinese characters. For a long time, I sought a way to connect more deeply with my heritage, believing that language was the key to understanding my roots. When I discovered that Mt. SAC offered courses in Japanese and Korean, I eagerly enrolled. Looking back, I'm grateful for this decision. Not only did I learn to read and write in these languages, but I also discovered a passion for this field—far more than my initial interest in engineering. This journey led me to realize that my true calling lies in Applied Linguistics, and along the way, I encountered inspiring professors who helped guide me to UC Berkeley.

At Mt. SAC, I took Linguistics 2 (Language, Gender, and Power) with Professor Ott and Linguistics 4 (Introduction to World Languages) with Professor Ott and Professor Lee. Both courses were exceptional experiences that provided me with valuable knowledge, practice, and terminology training. This foundation has been instrumental as I now tackle the mandatory Linguistics 100 class at Berkeley. I am deeply grateful to both professors and highly recommend their courses to any Mt. SAC student who has the opportunity to take them.

Inspired by Tuan's story?