Don Tran

Background

About Don Tran

I am fascinated with Metallurgical and Material Science because I am fascinated with change and properties. The idea that changing a small manufacturing process such as temperature can and will have great effect on the properties of the product produced is simple but profound in its implications. I look around at my classmates, and many of them are doing what they’ve always wanted to do since childhood in pursuing this program. I was not one of those children. I didn’t start taking my education seriously until after I graduated high school and began college. I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a profession, and I saw that my parents were paying my older brother’s tuition and were getting ready to pay my little sister’s tuition. While I am grateful for my parents, I decided to take myself out of the equation and joined the Marine Corps. I chose the Marine Corps because the word was that the Marines was the toughest group, and I wanted to see what I was made of. I spent 5 years as a Marine where I was technician for communication devices. While I enjoyed what I did, I found myself enjoying the Marine Corps because of the people I met and the places I got to visit. I am glad that I got to leave home of Houston, Texas and eventually call Okinawa, Japan and San Diego, California home. The life experiences that I gained in the Marine Corps gave me the confidence to move to Denver to pursuing my Metallurgical and Material Science degree at the Colorado School of Mines. I am looking to build both my professional and life experience by landing an internship position in Materials Science.