When Khanhchi (Class of 2008) arrived in the United States from Vietnam at 15, everything was new: a new country, a new school, a new language. Still learning English and finding her footing, she found Ocean Discovery Institute.
As a high school student, she was given an opportunity that would change the direction of her life: traveling to Baja, Mexico, to experience science beyond the classroom. She was surrounded by scientists, mentors, and people who believed she was capable of more.
It created a spark.
For the first time, science wasn’t something she just learned about, it was something she could do, and maybe build a future around. That experience stayed with her.
Khanhchi as a student holding a Thresher Shark (Alopias vulpinus) in Bahía de los Angeles, Baja California, Mexico
One Opportunity Can Change What a Student Believes Is Possible
At the time, Khanhchi didn’t know who had donated to make Baja possible, or how many people worked behind the scenes so she could go. She simply knew someone had opened a door. Years later, she can see how far it took her.
That spark carried her back to Vietnam, where she worked with WWF-Vietnam as a fisheries observer. Her path has since evolved; today she works at Black & Veatch as a Project Control Specialist, but the confidence to take on the unfamiliar and imagine more for herself has never left.
Now, years after others opened doors for her, Khanhchi is opening one for someone else.
Coming Full Circle
Khanhchi recently became a monthly donor to Ocean Discovery Institute. As a student, she never really knew the supporters behind her opportunities; she only experienced what their generosity made possible. Now she understands: someone was investing in her.
Someone believed a 15-year-old, still learning English in a new country, deserved access to extraordinary opportunities, without knowing exactly where that investment would lead.
Today, Khanhchi gets to be that person for another student.
Khanhchi as a science professional working for Black & Veatch
Why Monthly Giving, Specifically
A one-time gift can fund a moment. A monthly gift is what lets Ocean Discovery promise that moment will still be there next year, and the year after that.
Experiences, like the one Khanhchi had in Baja, and the mentors who lead them, aren’t one-time expenses. They’re staffed, planned, and paid for months in advance, long before any single student ever sets out on the trip. That kind of planning is only possible with the certainty that comes from donors giving every month.
That reliability is what turns a single spark into a sustained program: it allows Ocean Discovery to say yes to the next Khanhchi.
Once, someone invested in Khanhchi’s future. Today, she’s investing in theirs. That is what it means to come full circle, and it’s why, with every monthly donor who joins her, another student gets the chance to begin a story of their own.