Hi my name is Kelly Nguyen and I am a senior pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Economics, a minor in Film and Media Studies, and a certificate in Sustainability. I share an interest in learning about the economic well being for our well being individually and as a whole. I also share my passions for screenwriting and cinematography in the film industry as well as adapting solutions for sustainable issues in all aspects of my degree. Specifically food insecurity and the environmental impact of the meat industry are topics are my reatest concerns.Some fun facts about me are that I enjoy being involved in my Vietnamese culture and I enjoy to shop ethically by buying second hand clothing, furniture and other supplies. Culture is an important part of my life from the food to the holidays and I would not be myself without it. My parents are first generation immigrants, and I understand how culture is so important to preserve and share when you are in a different country.

The Appalachia Collegiate Research Initiative, or ACRI, strives to bring together college students and local Appalachia communities to provide insight and solutions to create a larger sustainable environment and larger economic development in these regions. As part of a ten year project, I and three other students apart of the Sanchez’s sustainability capstone at the University of Pittsburgh are collaborating with ACRI to intentionally create initiatives and solutions to help Fayette County’s sustainable and economic development. The project this year is specifically focusing on developing solutions for an economic plan evaluating infrastructure and investment funding in Uniontown and Fayette county. Integrating the space industry in the the Appalachia area would be a new and developing source of economic development. This project is important for the people in Fayette county and other parts of Appalachia to incorporate sustainable ways into these communities for a better livelihood. But this project is also important to me and my group leaders to gain knowledge and hands on experience into the lives of a community that has a different way of living and upbringing than me and understand with full respect the struggles they face being raised specifically in the Appalachian region. We hope to curate strong proposals that would solve issued these people have faced for multiple decades, particularly acid mind drainage, coal mining and outmigration.

I hope to use the skills I have learned from the ACRI project and all my other classes to work in an industry to correlates economic solutions for sustainable issues. I feel both of these subjects, economics and sustainability, are vital in most everyday lives, since we as decision makers behave both in the economy and in the FMCG, or the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Industry. We have the ability to choose how we consume goods and how it will affect our livelihood and environment. We as individuals make decisions on what we want to able to buy or provide and how we choose one good or another. How satisfied we are with certain goods or services affects how we live, and ability to change our minds and choose differently affects ourselves and businesses. Which is why the sustainability movement is so important. When people are exposed to the negative impacts of overconsumption, fast fashion, food waste, pollution and other human-made problems affecting the planet, they are able to consumer differently in a way that is more conscious for the environment. As it may not seem large to change such small parts of your lifestyle, such as brining your own reusable bags, recycling properly, or taking public transportation instead of a car, it creates change for a larger picture. Since there are billions of people on this planet, those small changes that enough people take would help the planet. Of course, the ACRI project I will be working on takes on more complex issues that larger corporate companies in Appalachia made, not necessarily the civilians. But I feel microeconomic issues are still related to the ACRI project and hope to understand more about these more difficult and complicated issues that have been in the Appalachia region for many decades. Overnight solutions are not realistic or practical for these problems of acid mine drainage and out migration. But by being apart of Pitt’s ten year collaboration with ACRI to create an economic plan for the region’s infrastructure, it would have a large positive impact for the residents and services.

I decided to join the ACRI team because it fit the most with my major and certificate. There are not many opportunities in classes where I would be have the ability to travel and have hand ons experience with this community for my our project. So having the ability to do so to visit Fayette County to explore the Appalachia region and personally interview stakeholders and citizens who live here would be a great and informative experience for not only my degree but my personal knowledge. I hope to learn more social skills in speaking with professionals dedicated to helping Appalachia’s economy and provide my own individual feedback on ways to create a better sustainable life for these citizens. My team’s project this year is focusing on mining and coal reduction, the outmigration issue, and space collaborations in creating a wider area for space education. Although these are complex issues that what I am used to, I am willing to face struggle and push myself out of my comfort zone to create solution for Fayette county. There are not many projects I have done where there is an immerse amount of interviewing, researching, and planning, but it is why this project is involved in the sustainability capstone. Capstones are to further push students into real situations and issues and develop academic ways to demonstrate those the students’ knowledge and personal experiences. This project will prepare myself for the real world in situations where I will be tasked with difficult challenges. Although I will have some setbacks, it will be rewarding and academic helpful by the end of the semester.