They met at MCLA and parted ways after graduation. Nhi Lam moved back to her hometown Boston after a few years working in behavioral health. Seven years later she and Ryan began talking on the phone, fell into a full relationship, and Nhi moved back to the Berkshires. Nhi, a Buddhist whose parents came from Viet Nam, and Ryan, an Italian Catholic, enjoyed Jewish culture—or what they knew of it from Ryan’s Jewish step-father.
They liked it enough to have a Jewish wedding in July, married by a Rabbi. Today they take Torah classes together and it’s likely they will raise their kids Jewish.
This story was rich enough for the TLC network show “Say Yes to the Dress” to film her dress selection process.
“The entire process was quite fun,” Nhi said. “At first I was very nervous, particularly during the one-on-one interviews, and all the cameras around during the process.”
The show requires an element of drama, and Nhi worries that her five sorority friends were too agreeable during the dress-buying process. The show’s air date has yet to be announced. In the end, Nhi bought Randy Fenoli’s flagship dress from his newest collection, not worn by anyone else at that time. Fenoli was the designer-personality who was the initial attraction for Nhi to apply to the show.
Her BCArc Experience
Today, after trying her hand at several human service jobs, Nhi feels good about her role at BCArc—a case manager at the Center for Development. There Nhi works directly with BCArc individuals to help them meet goals, but she spends a majority of time with families, service providers outside BCArc, and BCArc staff making sure each individual has a team in place working toward the same goals.
The Center where she works provides day-time services focused on habilitating individuals with developmental disabilities and brain injuries. “I help the team—families, staff, service providers—stay in synch, so that they are all on the same page, and stay that way.”
Nhi graduated with a psychology degree and after college worked with people with addictions and children on the autism spectrum. She prefers her current position at BCArc. “Here I get to work directly with the individuals, along with an entire team, looking at the daily data and making decisions about that person’s progress. It’s pretty much the best of both worlds for the area I studied.”
