Following the fall of Saigon in 1975, over 125,000 Vietnamese refugees poured through the doors of the United States, settling in the country. Over the next 25 years, the deluge of Vietnamese refugees continued, their population in the United States nearly doubling every decade. Now, over 1.4 million Vietnamese immigrants reside in the United States, and each of them has lived through unique experiences and treasured memories in their new home.

Among these many Vietnamese refugees who arrived in the United States was the father of Kalyn Su (12). Now, eight years later, Kalyn draws inspiration from her father and her family’s journey to America in fulfilling her passion for aiding refugees and immigrants.

“My dad is a refugee from Vietnam, and growing up, I always heard stories of their journey from Vietnam to here,” Kalyn said. “As I grew older, the impact and the meaning behind the stories really hit me. His journey [is where I] found my determination in or at least my interest in helping refugees.”

Yet, Kalyn realized that before helping others, she wanted to improve herself first. While Kalyn naturally remains shy and reserved, she set a goal in her freshman year to become more confident and vocal. As she grew throughout high school, Kalyn gradually achieved her goal.

“I unconsciously gave myself a goal of becoming more confident in myself, because freshman year was not a good year for me,” Kalyn said. “I was very unsure about myself. Throughout the years though, I have found confidence and hope that I continue to for the rest of my life.”

Under the quiet demeanor she presents to people, Kalyn’s attentive and observant mind is constantly forming her own views of situations and people. Director of Learning, Innovation and Design and Kalyn’s adviser of four years Diane Main remarks on Kalyn’s perceptive outlook.

“[Kalyn’s] been taking it all in, and she’s been forming opinions on making plans, coming up with ideas, and just because she’s not saying them out loud doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have them,” Main said. “There’s an old phrase: Still waters run deep. That’s a good way of describing Kalyn.”

Through these creative ideas and unique perspective on the world, Kalyn hopes to achieve her goal of helping people by becoming a clinical psychologist. Passionate about mental health and raising awareness about that topic, Kalyn hopes to venture into the field of psychology.

“My aspired career, as of now, is going into psychology, and that’s going to take many years,” Kalyn said. “Even if I only help one person at the end of all those years, it’s going to be worth it. For the sake of humanity, it’s going to be worth it in the end.”

Kalyn’s interest in mental health and her determination to achieve her goals reflects her diligence and compassion for others, with Kalyn constantly checking in with her friends and helping the people close to her.

Close friend Nikki Kapadia (12) not only admires Kalyn’s well-rounded and humble personality, but also her dedication to doing things to the best of her ability and putting in 100% effort.

“[Kalyn] won’t leave something 90% done and go away and be done with it,” Nikki said. “She’ll finish the problem until she gets it, not until she just gets the right answer. She’s always trying to better herself and it’s really inspiring. She doesn’t take breaks or even if she’s burned out, you can’t tell unless you really ask about it.”

Not only does Kalyn work her hardest to the best of her abilities, she’s always open to new things and outgoing in her own quiet way. Close friend Leyla Artun (12), who has known Kalyn since middle school, describes Kalyn’s persevering and open attitude. She especially admires Kalyn’s ability to manage stress, appreciating how Kalyn’s good traits rub off on her when they hang out.

“[Kalyn is] a hard worker, and she doesn’t let it get to her, all the outside stress,” Leyla said. “Especially from an outside perspective, you can tell it doesn’t. She handles it really well … She’s really nice to hang out with because she’s a spark of joy. She’s a really good energy to be around.”

Overall, Kalyn’s ambitious, compassionate and diligent personality along with her devotion to her family and friends define who she is. Her passion for helping people, first by helping herself, discovering her interests and gaining confidence, blooms into the confidence she has now.

“Throughout the years I’ve really found myself and found who I am,” Kalyn said. “And I’d like to say that I found myself with silent confidence. I’m a pretty quiet person. But I think that I do have a very silent confidence and that’s something that not many high schoolers have.”