1. March 23, 2010
Dear Selection Committee:
I am writing this letter to nominate Mr. Hai Ngoc Doan for leadership recognition of 2010 graduates. He
has made a tremendous impact in our community in a relatively short period of time since he transferred
from Tacoma Community College (TCC) in Fall 2008.
Hai first became part of our office as a Front Desk staff. Then he became International Student
Orientation (ISO) Coordinator. With added responsibilities, Hai’s talent flourished. Among International
Orientation Guides, he was a confident, organized and diligent leader. Countless improvements were
made to ISO thanks to Hai’s ability to take initiatives and make decisions based on his critical analysis.
Needless to say, the program ran smoothly than ever before and participation to extra activities during
ISO among new students increased significantly. Upon this success, Hai became International Student
Services (ISS) Intern for the academic year of 2009-2010.
During ISO, I also witnessed his superb talent in use of technology, especially in area of photography and
video production. He captured lively moments of ISO with his camera and created a wonderful slide show
which caught many campus administrators attention. Since then he has been asked to lead numerous
video production projects in Explore!, Multicultural Night, Woman’s Center Anniversary just to name a
few. He is also serving as a Web & Video Intern since Spring 2010.
As ISS Intern, Hai and I work closely on a daily bases. For certain aspects of office operation and
programming efforts, ISS has been in its developing stage. I could not have gotten a better Intern than Hai
in this transformational period of ISS. Since Hai joined me, we made significant progress in providing
more efficient and increased services to our International Student population.
Despite his increased co-curricular involvements, he has maintained excellence in his academia. He is on
Dean’s List every semester. He recently was inducted to Beta Gamma Sigma, an honor given to top 10%
of seniors among Business Administration. He is an excellent role model to peer student leaders because
of his demonstrated ability to achieve success in both academic and co-curricular involvements.
Upon his graduation from PLU this Spring, Hai will begin his professional career in a local Non-Profit
Child Placement & Charitable Relief Agency. He also plans to visit his family in Vietnam. He has not
been able to visit them since he first came to United States as an international student in Spring of 2005.
Beyond any doubts, Hai deserves this opportunity to be recognized for his talent and leadership. I wish
all the best for Hai’s journey after PLU and I truly appreciate the passing academic year which I was
privileged to be able to work with him.
Sincerely,
Akane Yamaguchi
Assistant Director of International Student Services