Rachel Phan, a 2011 graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus, has been named Alumna of the Year at Laurier’s Awards of Excellence.
When Rachel Phan arrived at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus as a 19-year-old, she was, by her own admission, “pretty clueless.”
“I’d been babied my whole life,” said Phan. “Growing up as a restaurant kid, I didn’t know how to cook, clean or do laundry. Laurier was the place where I truly learned how to be an adult; or at least a prototype of one.”
While Phan was expanding her culinary repertoire beyond roast beef sandwiches in Laurier’s Grand River Hall residence, she was also honing the skills that would later turn her lived experience into a best-selling memoir.
Having previously contributed to her community newspaper back home in Kingsville, Ontario, Phan took on the role of Arts and Entertainment editor at Laurier’s Brantford campus student newspaper, The Sputnik. She secured her first job outside of her immigrant parents’ Chinese restaurant, working part-time as a writing coach for Laurier’s Student Success Services. In her courses, she relished the one-on-one feedback she received from faculty members including Bruce Gillespie, one of the perks of the close-knit nature of the campus that had made it her top-choice university. In a course on race and gender with Professor Rebecca Godderis, she developed the vocabulary to describe why she’d always felt uncomfortable in her own skin, being one of just two racialized people in her small-town elementary school.
“Growing up, I never really thought I had a voice worth listening to. I couldn’t imagine a world where my stories or my perspective would matter to people. At Laurier, I was surrounded by professors, mentors, editors and peers who encouraged me to keep going,” said Phan. “They gave me feedback that made me sharper, validation that made me braver and opportunities that really helped me come into my own as a writer. And, honestly, without that encouragement, it’s very possible I would not be a published author. Even a few people believing in you can change the course of your life, and that is what the Laurier community has given to me.”
Phan’s first book, Restaurant Kid: A Memoir of Family and Belonging, was an instant national best-seller. The unflinching account of her experiences as a “third-culture kid,” raised in a culture different from that of her immigrant parents, earned a spot on CBC Books’ Best Books of 2025 list and a longlist nod for Canada Reads 2026.
In May of this year, Phan earned an additional accolade; this time from her alma mater. At Laurier’s Awards of Excellence ceremony, she was named Alumna of the Year, recognizing an alum who brings honour to the university through professional accomplishment.
Accepting the award in person, accompanied by her husband, Michael, and her parents, Hy and Tran, Phan took the opportunity to reflect on her achievements.
“This award feels very full circle to me because the Laurier community helped shape not only my career, but also my sense of self,” Phan said, in her acceptance speech. “It’s true that even a few people believing in you can change the course of your life, and that is what the Laurier community has given to me.
“There are so many people who helped get me to this point, but the two I thank most are here; my mom and dad. My parents survived a war. They survived being refugees. They survived starting over in a strange, foreign land. They survived working 12-plus-hour days, seven days a week, doing backbreaking work at our family restaurant for close to four decades and counting. And I’m grateful, Laurier, that you gave them a reason to actually close the restaurant so they could come here. My parents did all of that so my siblings and I could have a chance at a better life. It’s because of their hard work and sacrifices that we were the first generation in our family to attend and graduate from university. The award is as much theirs as it is mine,” Phan added.
