Diem “Betty” Lam, a media studies and film studies junior, was recently awarded the 2024 Rising Communicator Award from the Association for Women in Communication, joining a prestigious selection of media and communication pre-professionals who are excelling in Oklahoma.
The honor, which comes with a $2,000 scholarship, acknowledges Lam as a rising communicator for her contributions to campus and community, as well as academic achievements.
In addition to earning exemplary grades in the first three years of her double major work, Lam is involved in multiple communities across campus, including serving as the co-director of Studio 151, one of several student-led production suites in the TU Media Lab directed by Assistant Professor of Media Studies and Film Studies Justin Rawlins. Under her co-leadership with Avery Jamerson this year, Lam has produced five podcasts covering different topics; two of her favorites are Culture Swap and Into Miyazaki’s World. She also serves as social media chair for The University of Tulsa’s Center for Global Engagement, Vietnamese Student Association, Hispanic Student Association, TEDx Tulsa, and her former high school.
Lam grew up in Vietnam, a country that embraces the modernity of urban life and the tranquil beauty of rice paddies and lotus ponds. She has nurtured her passion for storytelling and curiosity in understanding different cultures. Born in an era of social media, she believes that the creativity and power of storytelling can make the world better. She envisions her future career in social media management and video production.
“These experiences have taught me just how to bridge communities, content, and professional connections between the UTulsa campus and the world,” she says, “I love it!”
Lam believes in the power of images and narratives to shape perceptions, inspire other people to pursue and achieve their dreams, and foster understanding about diverse aspects of life.
“Media studies has also taught me that it’s OK at the beginning not to know what I want to do. All we need to do is to start here and know where we stand,” she said. “I feel like I didn’t know anything at the beginning, but the more I work with my team and my supervisors, the more I learn from the process, and I now have a much clearer vision of how I can develop and better serve communities in the future.”
“In particular, I want to help improve the values that our communities share,” she adds.
She credits this professional momentum and motivation to her education in UTulsa’s Kendall College of Arts & Sciences for “helping me learn how to tell a story and how to connect with the communities around me, especially online communities. Thanks to my education with Professors Emily Contois, Thomas Conner, Ben Peters, Justin Rawlins, and others, I have learned how to better tell true stories that understand more diverse perspectives and create communities where mutual learning and independent growth can blossom.”
Peters, UTulsa’s Hazel Rogers Endowed Chair in Media Studies, expressed his pride in Lam’s latest accomplishment. “Receiving the 2024 AWC Rising Communicator Award establishes Betty as the face of the next chapter of our department’s long legacy as a serious AWC award competitor,” he said. “Thanks to precisely the community that Betty helps to build on-campus – inclusive, interdisciplinary, engaged – we are sure that many of her peers in media studies, both past and future, share this prestigious award with her, and that her signature will remain bright among them all.”