At her internship this past summer at Details magazine, sophomore Bic Leu was supposed to be just another poorly paid intern. But when her supervisor unexpectedly quit, Leu was given his job as an assistant to the publisher until a replacement could be found.
"I was thrust into the nucleus," said Leu. The publisher made both mundane and odd requests of his new assistant, ranging from having her make celebrity guest lists for the Fashion Rocks Concert, to having her order paperclips and other office supplies. Leu remembers receiving a call in the middle of the night from her boss, who said, "I'm tired of plastic cups - I want porcelain mugs with the Details logo on them for the office."
Needless to say, Leu learned a valuable lesson in communications and multitasking. "I was new to the publishing world, and had to figure everything out by myself," she said.
As stressful as the situation was at times, Leu loved working in what she describes as "a very fashionable and trendy environment." Her youth was not an issue, as no one she worked with at the magazine was over 35 years old. Plus, she said, "there were tons of male models running around, so it was fun!"
Now that she is back at Tufts, Leu has not lost that metropolitan drive. "She is always busy, and needs to be near a computer, cell phone and Post-its, or else she freaks," said Leu's roommate, sophomore Rachel Barbarisi.
Leu schedules 20 minutes of "downtime" every few days, which means she plays music while she runs frantically around her room before rushing off to attend yet another meeting. Barbarisi jokingly said that Leu has a tendency to say "very executive things in her sleep, like 'That is unacceptable!' and 'Do it better!'"
Leu is also making waves in the art history department. Originally a fan of 20th century expressionist painters like Paul Cezanne and Gustav Klimt, she has recently begun exploring classical works of art. She hopes to spend the upcoming summer at an ancient Etruscan excavation site in Poggio Civitate, a city that dates back to six B.C.E. Also referred to as Murlo, the Mediterranean city is famous for its ancient wall murals and decorations.
Working under Classics Lecturer Tony Tuck, Leu is "interested in exploring viewers' interpretation of the message in architectural decoration based on lines of sight." Students at the site get to take part in photography projects, including reconstructing a 360-degree view of how the ancient buildings looked.
The available spaces in the field school are highly coveted: "If I don't get to go, I'll have to slum it in New York," Leu said.
Leu's family has just begun to accept her choice to major in art history, but they still hope she is just going through a phase. "My parents want me to come to my senses and go to pharmacy school," said Leu, who comes from a long line of engineers and scientists.
In addition to her art studies, Leu is the vice president of the Asian Community at Tufts (ACT), and helped organized Tufts' Tsunami Relief Fund and charity auction. Fifty volunteers donated various services - from salsa lessons to home-cooked meals - for the auction, the proceeds of which were donated to UNICEF.
As a Vietnam native, Leu was close to the cause. After the Vietnam War, Asian tradition demanded that her mother's eldest uncle look after the family. That was no easy task, as he had to look after 11 siblings, their spouses, and their children. Nonetheless, he attended Northwestern University, earned his degree and obtained U.S. citizenship. He was then able to sponsor the rest of his family to join him.
The first migration of Leu's family came in 1990. More family members, including Leu herself, came in 1993. "They were all well-educated, many of them college professors in Vietnam, but here they had to rebuild themselves," she said. Her father's side of the family remains in Vietnam.
The most difficult transition for Leu's family was dealing with the language barrier. "For me, I picked up English quickly," Leu said. "I started ESL [English as a Second Language] at age eight, and was fluent by nine."
Leu's parents and older relatives had a more challenging time learning English, but Leu's mother was still able to earn her master's degree in computer science, and is planning to get a Ph.D.
"I talk to them in English, and they respond in Vietnamese," Leu said. "Our phone conversations must seem really strange to someone listening in!"
