Hello!
My name is Mimi Tran (she/her). I’m a transfer student at Haverford, coming in as a sophomore and majoring in Cities. At my previous college, I was an Urban Environmental Studies major and I’m excited to learn about the more sociopolitical and architectural aspects of urban life. I love anything outdoors, especially hiking and kayaking!
I’m from Fairhope, Alabama—a small coastal town, on the other side of Mobile Bay. In 1975, at the end of Vietnam War, my dad came to Fairhope as a 15 year old Vietnamese refugee with his parents and seven siblings, making Fairhope our family home for the past 45 years. Fairhope was built as a utopian colony and was named because of its “fair hope of success.” With the bay less than 10 minutes from my house, hiking and kayaking spots galore, and streets lined with oak trees and flowers, Fairhope definitely seems to live up to its founders’ vision, but it’s still far from a utopia. For example, our community is 91.5% white with current Fairhope zoning cutting out black neighborhoods and pushing minority populations outside of city limits. While I love Fairhope, sometimes it’s hard to have hometown pride. Part of the reason why I’m a Cities major is because I want to love and be proud of an equitable, inclusive community. I hope to start learning how to facilitate such equity with this class!
