Neither Tran nor Alyssa made it to the “final showdown” of five students.

Tran doesn’t come across as pushy or attention-seeking. In retrospect, Tran thinks what distinguished the contestants who moved farther was a little extra spark that they put on when the time was ripe.

“I think a lot of people just acted differently when the scholarship committee was there,” he conceded. “It is a game. They did play the game well. They just made themselves stand out more among the students.”

With the competition over, Tran is taking the time to wind down and soak up as much of home as possible.

“I’m just spending time with family and friends,” Tran said. “I lived in Westminster, this little city in Orange County, my entire life. It’s going to be harder to leave.”

Tran, who has an older sister already in college, said that his departure will mean the onset of empty nest syndrome for a close family.

“The house is going to be pretty quiet,” Tran said. “That’s why my mom’s going to be sad.”

Tran seems a little uneasy and maybe a little wistful, but he’s also more than a little excited about coming to Harvard.

“I think I’m most excited about the environment. I’ve only been to the East Coast once, and I really liked it,” Tran said. “I also feel that Harvard will provide a very intellectual and stimulating environment where I can feed off other people’s intellectualism.”

“Even being on the Scholar and living in the house, it was so much fun to talk to people who were passionate about life and living and had something to say,” he said.

Once in Harvard’s classrooms, Tran may pursue a concentration in History of Science, an ideal choice, he says, because it doesn’t require him to choose between science and the humanities.

A swimmer, water polo player, and academic decathlon competitor in high school, Tran also spent much of his time volunteering, and he wishes to focus on community service while in college, while also engaging with the Vietnamese roots from which he is so little removed.

Tran’s biography on the show’s web site speaks to the burden he feels to succeed in life and validate his immigrant parents’ sacrifices.

“I’m actually really scared. I don’t know how difficult it’ll be,” Tran said of Harvard. “As long as I’m determined and if I work hard, I’ll be fine.”

The other potential obstacle of next year—the possibility that people will continue, as they have done, to recognize him from television—doesn’t concern him.

“I don’t think I’ll enjoy any celebrity status. Some people might recognize me, but overall I don’t think it’s going to be too intense or anything I can’t handle,” Tran said. “I’m not expecting it, but if it happens, I’ll be ready for it.”

—Staff writer Samuel C. Scott can be reached at sscott@fas.harvard.edu.