Student Receives President’s Scholarship

Monica Diep is one of the first recipients of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) President’s Scholarship. Ms. Diep is currently pursuing her masters at the TAMHSC School of Rural Public Health. The annual scholarship is awarded on the basis of leadership, professionalism, academic performance and a commitment to community service.

The daughter of Vietnamese parents, Monica Diep was born and spent her early years in New Jersey and New York City where she didn’t learn English until she began school.  Deeply rooted in Vietnamese and Chinese cultures where she learned about traditional foods and medicine through her interactions with people in market stalls in Chinatown, she has a broad worldview.  Monica exemplifies the need for and mastery of cultural diversity and awareness.

Before graduating from high school, she had earned her certification as a nurses’ aide as well as an EMT license and was volunteering in several hospital ER and Labor and Delivery departments.  She graduated cum laude in 2010 from Tulane University receiving a bachelor of science in public health with a concentration in global and community health.

Monica spent a summer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia studying the social aspects of infectious diseases, mainly HIV/AIDS and TB.  She interned for the Malaysian AIDS Council and other NGOs where she was responsible for drafting issue papers for the National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS and monitoring and evaluating current Malaysian HIV/AIDS programs.

After deciding to attend graduate school at the TAMHSC School of Rural Public Health, it wasn’t long before Monica started volunteering in the local schools and at Scotty’s House, the local children’s advocacy center.  Ms. Diep is currently working as a graduate research assistant with the Center for Community Health Development.