Photo of alum Khoa Huynh
Besides being a professor for the ESTEEM Graduate Program, teaching Innovation Approach to Cancer Research, Khoa is the Institute Programs Director at the Harper Cancer Research Institute (HCRI). In this position he oversees and coordinates the institute’s diverse research initiatives that serve high school, undergraduate, and graduate students as well as post-doctoral fellows. With a deep commitment to advancing cancer research, he ensures that programs run efficiently, fostering collaboration between internal researchers and external partners.
Khoa is a proud double-domer. After receiving his B.S. in Biological Sciences in May 2011, he earned his M.S. from the Engineering, Science, and Technology Entrepreneurship (ESTEEM) Program in 2012. Before returning to the University of Notre Dame as a staff member of the Harper Cancer Research Institute, Khoa helped start a local non-profit organization called enFocus Inc. in South Bend and worked in the financial service sector as a recruiter with Coleman Research Group located in Raleigh, NC.
Khoa shares some insight into his professional journey and offers advice to ESTEEM students.
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ESTEEM: What is a surprising or unconventional lesson you’ve learned in your professional journey?
Khoa: A surprising and unconventional thing that I've learned in my professional journey is that it is sometimes more important to figure out what it is that you do not want to do or like to do, than it is to try to figure out what you do want to do. I think one of the hardest questions that any student or anybody in their early career is asked is, "What is your passion?" There are a handful of students who know exactly, or at least think they know exactly, what they want to do; they’re very focused and ambitious, and they run towards that one goal.
But for a lot of people who are still going through self-discovery and deciphering what they want to do with the rest of their lives, it’s really hard to answer that question. I was in that position where I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life—I can’t even say I know now, I just know what I enjoy doing. So, instead of focusing on what I don't know, I focus on the things that I really enjoy, like working with students at Harper and the Cancer Research Institute.
I try not to focus so much on the unknown and just leave it up to "what happens will happen," but I do my best to take note of the things that I do not enjoy. As those things come up, I go through my own deciphering process. I ask: "Wait, am I just being lazy? Is this something I really don't want to do?" A lot of the time, the answer is that I don't like a thing because I feel like my skill sets aren't aligned with doing it. It’s just because it’s not the right thing for me, and being okay admitting that is huge.
ESTEEM: Can you share a pivotal moment in your career when you took a risk or embraced uncertainty, and what you learned from it?
Khoa: One of the biggest risks that I took was actually joining the ESTEEM program. At the time, it was only in its third year. I was a Bio major and I was very set to go to med school. Upon graduating from Notre Dame, I was basically in my gap year and I really didn't know what to do. I took a chance because one of my friends had applied for the ESTEEM program and got in, so I looked into it and thought, "This looks interesting."
ESTEEM actually taught me a lot about myself. It taught me how to decipher things and work through possibilities I never gave myself credit to even entertain—like the idea that maybe I should be dabbling more in a realm where I play a liaison role between the sciences, education, and the medical field. It helped me realize that perhaps med school wasn't for me. I credit the program with helping me work through that process. So, I would say the biggest leap I took was to join this program, graduate from it, and do something that was completely out of my comfort zone: business. Like, "What is business?"
ESTEEM: If you were a student starting the ESTEEM program this year, what would you make sure to focus on learning or doing?
Khoa: There is so much being thrown at you, and 11 months is not a long time whatsoever. I don't think there's just one thing I would say to focus on; unfortunately, you just have to give everything a shot. There's a fine line between learning everything the program and the university offers—all the resources that are here—and then, on top of that, having some kind of work-life or student-school balance. That is also really hard.
If there is one thing I would advise, it's that there are a lot of people within your class going through the same thing you are, and these people might end up being your colleagues. Support each other as you're going through this journey, because who else is going to understand it better than the people around you? Providing that support for each other might actually bring rewards for everybody. Eventually, there might be a job opening someone is applying for, or someone might say, "Hey, come work with me" or "I'm starting this company, I know your expertise, and I would love for you to be part of this with me." You have a group of people with similar skill sets that will be very advantageous for the near future.
ESTEEM: What do you personally learn from working with ESTEEM/ Notre Dame students year after year?
Khoa: If you want to make an impact, do things that help people. You can apply the things that you learn in ESTEEM to so many different things. To echo the teaching of the University and what we stand for: just be a force for good in the world.
That is a hard choice because there's so much you can do. You can help people in a million ways, and that doesn't mean you couldn't do "critical business" or anything else. Whatever it is you end up doing, just make sure that it benefits people. I think that will be very rewarding to yourself. You’re not just doing it for the grind or for a dollar; you're making it matter for you. That’s going to be different for everybody, but for me, I just hope to make whatever I’m doing help the next person.
ESTEEM: If you had one piece of advice for students striving to make an impact, what would it be?
Khoa: ESTEEM methodically teaches all its students how to concisely and thoroughly think through a problem. You may not realize that as you're doing it, because it just feels like classwork, but I’ll use the McCloskey Business Competition as an example. I was a judge for a really long time, and it amazed me how well-organized, intelligent, and concise the proposals submitted by ESTEEM students were compared to other submissions.
The thought process you are being taught in this program helps you be very organized. Even if you got rid of all the actual information you're learning, the methodology through which you get to the answer might be more important. You can take that process and apply it to anything you do after the program.
From the recipient's side, the information is easy to read and well laid out. It helps me say, "Okay, I can see your thought process." Because I can see that process, it helps me judge that the project has the potential to be successful. I know the person behind it is organized and has the aptitude to not only look for the answer, but to anticipate everything else that could go wrong. You can convey that through your writing and how you get a message across.