Meet a VC Intern: Cindy Nguyen

Learn more about one of our 2022 VC Summer Interns Cindy Nguyen, our Programs Associate!

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

My name is Cindy Nguyen (she/her) and I am from Baldwin Park, CA, where the first ever In-N-Out is located. I recently graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.A. in Psychology with a Specialization in Computing. I currently reside in Los Angeles, where I get to enjoy my mornings with lots of sunshine and my nights with lots of cool breeze. I enjoy connecting with other people and learning about their backgrounds, but I can also be a wallflower and enjoy my time sitting alone in a corner. In my free time, I love to window shop, whether that’s at a grocery store, on the sidewalks of local restaurants, or in my own bedroom. In the future, I hope to travel back to my parents’ home country, Vietnam, to learn more about the culture and community that my family grew up in.

How did you hear about VC and what drew you to apply?

I first heard of Visual Communications through my supervisor at my student job at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs — Dean’s Office, Events Department. My supervisor was in charge of Special Events for the 37th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and through her, I met an LAAPFF staff who welcomed me onto the Theatre Operations team. My first encounter with Visual Communications began at the 37th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, where I was able to meet all the lovely humans and community who are part of this space. The more I got to know the community, culture, and humans, the more I wanted to know. I wanted to continue being in a space surrounded by folks who valued community, me, as an individual, and also, my voice. When their application for Programs Intern went live on their website, I immediately applied because programming was what I always wanted to do and develop and VC was the place that I wanted to be at.

What are your intern duties at VC? Which part do you find interesting?

My internship duties at VC focus primarily on artist exhibition and development programming, pertaining to VC programs such as Armed With a Camera Fellowship, Digital Histories, and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. I work closely with Programs Director, Eseel Borlasa, to provide administrative and coordinating support, which include updating programming information, reaching out to filmmakers for scheduling, researching venues and catering, gathering data, and watching films. As an individual who has not appreciated the arts as much, I actually really enjoy the aspect of my work where I am asked to engage with films. These moments where I watch the films enable me to learn more about the filmmakers and their work as many are telling stories that represent themself, their community, their culture, or of relation. As I continue to interact with the many different content in the VC space, I am eager to learn and uplift the diverse community of filmmakers and the stories they share.

How do you describe your experience working at VC so far? Any memorable moments?

At VC, I feel comfortable being vulnerable like I would with family. To be quite honest, I don’t believe I can feel this way in any other workplace and I think it speaks volume about the culture at VC. Not only am I surrounded by a community that wants the best growth for me as an individual, but I’m also surrounded by uncles, aunties, and friends who treat me like family, always making sure I have eaten or have rested well. The family I have here at VC works to help me grow professionally, but also personally. 

The most memorable moments are when I come into the office and just after an hour or so into work or after meetings, we’re eagerly nudged to “Go eat!” or asked “Did you grab something to eat? Do you want ice cream? Do you want lettuce?” It’s moments like these that really make me feel at home, comfortable to work and grow into my own skin.

Describe what a perfect day would look like for you. How do you take rests?

A perfect day for me would be waking up to the morning sun shining through the window. The sound of busy cars and construction in the morning lets me know that LA is going about their day like usual, and I like that normal routine. I always go about my day indulging myself in some work, but for a perfect day, I would love to have my inbox not bombarded with emails and instead, indulging myself in a butter croissant (or any bread as I LOVE BREAD!). Also, just as I’ve mentioned before, my perfect day cannot be perfect without some window shopping. While I’m window shopping, I also love to people-watch. As I walk down the sidewalks of my neighborhood or on the busy streets of LA, I always wonder what the stories are of the humans I watch and how these stories are heard or conveyed, if they ever are.

Who is Cindy?

I was born in San Gabriel, California, where the largest racial/ethnic group is Asian, but raised in Baldwin Park, California, where the largest racial/ethnic group is Hispanic. My parents were born and raised in Vietnam. I am the oldest of two siblings.

When I was growing up, my identity did not mean much to me as I was surrounded by those who did not identify as Vietnamese-American and I sometimes wondered what it would’ve been like if we had stayed in San Gabriel. Most of my life before college, I did not appreciate my culture and community, and most times, I even dreaded learning Vietnamese every Sunday. Everything felt distant to me and throughout high school, I felt like I was pretending to be someone I wasn’t, always trying to fit in because I felt like I was the odd one out. I struggled a lot with this part of myself, and it affected my relationships with friends and family.

Once I went to college, I really felt like I found the right people who were meant to come into my life. It’s odd to think that two humans could have such an impact on my life, but I can say they are the best friends I always wished I had growing up and my role models. I met them both through my own personal journey of trying to learn more about myself and my culture, and the space in which we’ve grown together at UCLA will always be one I am extremely grateful for. The community I was searching for and the friends I longed for all came out of this space. The interactions and experiences I had really got me to appreciate my parents a lot more, and our beautiful culture.

I can’t go back and change time to fix any mistakes I’ve made, but the time that I’ve intentionally carved out for family and friends now, as well as our interactions, are what I really treasure and would never take for granted. The amount of passion and dedication I put into my work and myself are for the people who surround me, whether it’s my family, friends, my second family at work, or even those who I have yet to meet that will come into my life.

I wish to continue spreading joy and love to all who enter my life and serving the communities that are dear to me.

Family trip to Lee Canyon in Las Vegas

Window shopping at Grand Central Market

Celebrating our first successful destress activity (axe throwing) in San Diego with a photo moment

Photos and captions courtesy of Cindy Nguyen.