Two Sask. students receive 'Outstanding Citizenship' award

Culinary arts graduate Tristen Hansen will be receiving Sask. Polytechnic's Outstanding Citizenship Award. (Tristen Hansen)

As graduation day draws near, two students at Saskatchewan Polytech are being recognized for their positive impact on the school and the community.

Thien Huy Vuong Doan will be receiving the Outstanding Citizenship Award. It’s something Doan said was hard to believe at first.

“I don't want to share that with my friends and family until I got the official letter from the school. I was very surprised.”

Doan is a graduate of the school’s business information systems program. Sask. Polytech said he was recognized for his involvement in school activities including welcome weeks, career fairs, the Frost Festival, the KNOW Conference, and intercultural weeks.

“I join a lot of activities in my school,” he said. “They have a lot of activities welcoming the new students and to gather together and also talk with each other. So I make a lot of new friends here and we are very close so we can study in groups.”

Doan said he moved to Regina from Vietnam about two years ago.

“I felt that difficulty for other students and other newcomers too so that's why I'm the administrator of three Facebook groups. So we have our community there and they ask a lot of questions.”

He said he came over with his wife and they are settling into Canada for the long term.

“I got a job with the Ministry of Agriculture. So I'm working for them now,” he said. “And will work for them after I graduate.”

He said that life in Saskatchewan has been an adjustment for him and his wife.

“We wear a lot of layers and also buy winter clothes. So the cold here is not like my expectations so good.”

His volunteer work doesn’t stop at school. He said he was also helping at the Regina Open Door Society.

“I'm doing a lot of activities like when I was in my home country, and I still continue doing that so I can meet people and I can have fun.”

Culinary arts graduate, Tristen Hansen, will also be receiving the school’s Outstanding Citizenship Award.

Juggling school, her young family and volunteer work has been a fun challenge, she said.

“When I started my culinary arts journey over a year ago I would have never imagined I would have come this far, honestly it just feels amazing. Always follow your dreams,” Hansen told CTV News.

She thanked her children and husband for their support.

“I could have not made it this far without them.”

She has been involved in several different volunteer activities, including the Zoogala event and Mise En Place for Team Canada, both in June 2022. She was also a Saskatchewan Young Chef qualifier this March.

She said she’s wanted to be a chef since Grade 6.

“Food is the way to one's heart and seeing people happy eating what you created is a beautiful feeling,” she said.

“People will always remember the food you served them and how it makes them feel. Your food is a reflection of who you are as a person so I always try to make it as beautiful as I can.”

She also has some big dreams after graduation.

“After convocation, I would like to go travelling across Canada, try all the beautiful food our provinces have to offer and see all the different planting styles.”

The Outstanding Citizenship Award is decided by faculty and includes $500 and a certificate for the student.