James T Nguyen
He/Him
I am trans man and I am a biomedical engineer.//
My life’s purpose is to bring forth meaningful actions that can improve the lives of a greater collective. That is why without a doubt, I decided to go into biomedical engineering.
From when I was young, my grandma was at risk for high blood pressure. She would ask me to help strap her to a machine that could monitor her blood pressure, and ensure that she would stay at a healthy range. Through that process, I began to understand just how much this machine was able to help her live normally. Access to these small machines were the only thing between a person’s life or death, and it was then I realized the power of health technology.
My father has asthma and relies on inhalers when he is unable to breathe. He once lost his inhaler and forgot to bring an inhaler, leading to him being brought to the hospital. Outside of the hospital room, there was a moment where I was scared I was going to lose him. However, he still remained breathing through medical machines and health devices, enough so that today he can work as a mechanic fixing cars. As long as he has his inhaler on hand, he doesn’t need to fear anything.
My cousin suffers from the same condition, and I remember sleepovers at her house where I would be woken up in the middle of the night to flashing lights and a machine being used. I was only a child, but I remember the chaos of the asthma breathing machine, a nebulizer, being held to her face as she struggled to breathe, every single breath feeling like it may be the last. I remember visiting her in the hospital, watching her sleeping while having to breathe through the machine. These machines saved her life, and it’s why she can go on to follow her passions now.
From the moment I was little, I was passionate about bringing change. From my work as Vice President of my college’s student government, I advocate on behalf of community college students on legislation that will help benefit their lives. But through my family’s experiences with medical devices, I began understanding that there was another way to help a collective group of people— through healthcare.
I am doing what I love; whether I’m researching legislation or implementing medical devices, as long as they manage to fulfill my life’s purpose to help a community of people. Now more than ever, I want to bring my efforts to be able to save lives in a more substantial, physical way, which is why I want to begin my journey as a biomedical engineer: to give back to the gratitude that I have experienced when my family breathes.