Loc Le (CDE)

2014 LocMy name is Loc Le from Hanoi, Vietnam and I am a graduate fellow of The Center for Development Economics (CDE), Class of 2014. I am writing to extend my thanks for your gift to the Alumni Fund. Your contribution plays an important role in funding what makes Williams unique. As well as saying thank you, I’d also like to share a little about myself and my experiences at Williams.

I work as an economist at the research department at State Bank of Vietnam (our central bank). I have some friends who studied at the CDE and they told me about their lives in Williamstown. It is the reason why I started finding out more information about Williams and its programs. I found that Williams College is the best liberal arts college in the states and the Master of Art in Public Policy is a wonderful program for people working for ministries of finance and central banks in developing countries. I decided to apply to the CDE and luckily, I was admitted to the program. I am the only one from Vietnam this year.

There are thirty fellows from twenty-four developing countries in our class. The tuition fee and accommodation at Williams are actually very expensive for any of us. We could not study here if we did not receive scholarships. I was lucky to receive a full scholarship from Williams College. I am in a ten month program at Williams but it will be the best part of my life. All our classmates work for their governments. We are a very diverse group. We study with the best, most well-known professors of economics. The program is practical and I do believe that it will be very helpful for the future when we return to our countries.

Besides the academics, the facilities and the people at Williams are awesome. I really enjoy weekly concerts and football matches. I feel blessed to be a part of this community. In addition, thanks to the Alumni Relations office, one of my friends at the CDE and I traveled to California, when we met and stayed with Williams alumni in San Francisco, Sacramento, Davis, Torrance and San Diego. They allowed us to understand the strong Williams network. It was just unbelievable how alumni would help us. It is great to study here.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you for your support to make my dream come true. I hope you will continue supporting many more students from developing countries like me so they will have a chance to study at Williams College, understand American culture and enhance the relations between America and other parts of the world.