FALL 2008 - UW-Milwaukee

S T U D E N T P R O F I L ELong ChangBy Alicia HaywoodSixteen years ago, Long Changentered a Wisconsin kindergartenclassroom unable to speakone word of English. Today, he’s afirst-generation Hmong Americancollege student, a McNair Scholar,and a UWM Asian Faculty and StaffAssociation scholar ship recipient. Ashe embarks on Level 2 ofArchitectural Studies in UWM’sultra-competitive School of Architectureand Urban Planning, Changvisualizes designing a whole newfuture for his family.Born in a refugee camp inThailand, Chang immigrated to theUnited States with his disabledparents and eight brothers and sisters.In 1992, the entire family settled inthe attic of a small, rented home inOshkosh. Chang was six years old.Although he doesn’t remembermuch about the refugee camp,memories of adjusting to a new,modern American life and languagehave stuck with him. “I was kind ofnervous because in the first few weeksof school, I felt isolated,” he says.“What helped during those first yearswere all the toys; they helped me wantto go to school.”But toys weren’t Chang’s onlyincentive. The desire to give back tohis parents has also inspired him to dowell. “Even though my parents did nothave any education, they respect andvalue education a lot because theyknow it will improve our future,” hesays. “My parents expect and encouragemy siblings and I to go as far as we canin the educational system.” To thatend, Chang’s participation in theMcNair Program, offered to just 15UWM undergraduate students eachyear, may be preparing him to be thefirst member of his family to pursuegraduate school, as well as his goal ofbecoming an architect.UWM’s Architectural Studies iswidely recognized as one of the topprograms in the country. Withouthesitation, Chang devoted an extrayear to sharpening his skills at theprogram’s first level to strengthen hischances of moving forward. “Therehave been many days when I was in mystudio all night long finishing upprojects,” he admits. And the dedicationhas paid off. This summer, Chang wasofficially accepted into Level 2 of hismajor. “It was a huge relief,” he says.“I am very excited because it means[I am] a door closer to turning mydream into reality.”Through his placid demeanor andunwavering focus, it’s apparent thatChang never loses sight of his life’sjourney or that of his family’s. Hisambition rises from a place far deeperthan just seeking a desirable profession:“I have a dream of succeeding inarchitecture so that I can design myparents a home that’s worth riskingtheir lives to settle in a refugee camp.”Chang is likely to realize hisdream because, according to hisacademic advisor, Tammy Taylor, he is“driven by his aspirations and nothingwill stand in his way.” Even beforegraduating high school, Chang wasalready working on his professionaldesign portfolio. During his senioryear at Oshkosh North, Changparticipated in a program that allowedhim to take an Architectural Design &Drafting course, taught by AndyBrown at Oshkosh West. Chang creditsthe constant support and positivefeedback from Brown for helping himdiscover his interest in architecture.“Long was hard-working andself-motivated,” Brown says. “He wentfar beyond the level of what moststudents accomplish.” In addition toteaching, Brown also coordinates thehigh school’s design and draftingco-op program, which facilitatesstudents working at a local businessrelated to their area of interest. It wasthrough this program that Changscored a co-op position at the designand build company, CR Meyer.Although he started out merelymaking copies of drawing plans, heended up designing some of the firm’smajor projects, including the floorplan for the Exclusive Company indowntown Oshkosh. Brown confirms,“I still hear about Long and what anoutstanding employee he was, to thisday.”Off to an impressive start as aninnovator in the field, Chang doesn’ttake any part of this process forgranted. “My plan is to finish schoolhere and then work with an architecturefirm for at least two years beforetaking the license test to be certified.After a few years of experience, Imight possibly start a new firm…butit’s going to be a long road ahead.”16 Fall 2008/Myriad