Late bloomer
I’m a late bloomer when it comes to school, I can honestly say that now (but my hubbie thinks I’m a late bloomer in everything, but that’s another post for another day). I attended schools in Viet Nam up until I was eleven years old.
My oldest sister was the smarty pants when it was just the two of us in school (the other three were much younger). In Elementary school, she would always rank either number one or number two of her class of 30 kids each semester. Me? I always came in second, second to the last or being last of the same amount of students, that is.
There were many pictures of my sister holding a wrapped bundle of gift as a result of being the top student. As for me? There was no picture of me holding anything at all except for holding my sister’s gift for her, maybe as a good luck charm. Sadly, that didn’t really help.
I remember vividly my uncle and dad tried to tutor me in Math, but somehow I just didn’t get it. The light bulb was pretty dimmed most of the time, to their/my dismay.
When we arrived to the U.S. in 1980, I was twelve at the time. Everything was so different to say the least, the food, the culture, the weather, the people and of course the school system. My siblings and I attended an ESL school with all the other Vietnamese refugees. Classes were taught by Vietnamese teachers. It took me two years to immerse into an all English speaking class, I was one of three to do so. Apparently, languages came easy for me since I love learning new ones, Science and Math were not so much my favorite areas or my strength. The myth that Asians are “good” at Science and Math pretty much stops with me.
After graduating from the above mentioned ESL school, my siblings and I went to inner-city schools due to where we lived at the time. It was not one of my favorite memories of school, that’s for sure.
The school consists of about 90% of Blacks and the rest was other races, and being a timid refugee with enough English just to get by, I was scared for my life every single day. I don’t remember having mentioned any of this to my parents, since they have their own worries: working hard to support five kids in a strange land, with limited English.
There was not a single day go by at school that someone didn’t get into a fight, and I don’t mean just a shove here or a name calling there. The weapon of choice was anything that can be concealed, teachers were not respected, and classes were disrupted often, this is not to say that all inner-city schools were the same, it just happened that mine was.
Not to digress, but when I heard that Oprah started a Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa and as she expressed:
“I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn’t there. If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don’t ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school.”
Oprah did receive numerous criticisms for this quote, which I think it’s just simply dumbfounded given the fact that she is the most charitable person among celebrities here in the U.S.
Oprah couldn’t have been more right, “the need to learn just isn’t there.” That was how I felt being in a class back in the early 80’s surrounded by students who just didn’t want to be there and they made it difficult for the minority of us who truly wanted to learn, not to mention that the teachers couldn’t do much either in fear for their lives. Although it helped me get ranked, for the first time, in the top 10. And finally holding my own award at the end of the year instead of my sister’s award. Heck, given the intelligence pool at that school, it really didn’t say much about my own ability, did it. But it sure gave me a boost in confidence that I CAN actually learn if I apply myself.
I was not used to this way of life at school. In Viet Nam, teachers are considered the top profession since there’s a huge emphasis on education. The literacy rate for 2003 is estimated at 94% for a low income country of $638 per capita income (2005) with about 80 million people. Needless to say, being able to attend schools is a privilege, a way to climb out of poverty for a better life, not only for yourself but for your family.
My parents, who you would consider as upper-middle class folks in Viet Nam, worked diligently in a shrimp company for a few years and had saved enough money that we were able to move to a safer town with better schools. It was refreshing going to a High School where everyone wanted to learn, it was like night and day compares to the inner-city school that I went to.
I had some excellent teachers and some who shouldn’t be teaching at all. To this day, I hated “History” because of this one teacher who was not very good, he was loud and obnoxious, I mean he was a detention teacher after all. I was afraid of him most of the time and didn’t retain much in that class.
All in all, I learned a lot from High School, with some good and some bad memories (that’s for another post). I came away with a National Honor Society Award for Senior year, although there were subjects that I struggled with like Science and Math. My favorite subjects were French, English and Home Economics, where I learned my arts and crafts which I’ve used throughout my life, remember that dress I wrote about here?
Equipped with a High School diploma, I applied to local colleges and was accepted to Boston College (believe it or not, I applied to this school because of a crush on Doug Flutie, priority you know!). It wasn’t MIT or Harvard, but my parents were more than thrilled that the light bulb from their “late bloomer” was no longer dimmed, not that I became a genius or anything, but at least I survived college and graduated after four years with a degree in Marketing. Now finding a job with that degree in 1991 (unemployment rate was 7.5%) is another post altogether.
To be continued (I hope)…
I’m a late bloomer when it comes to school, I can honestly say that now (but my hubbie thinks I’m a late bloomer in everything, but that’s another post for another day). I attended schools in Viet Nam up until I was eleven years old.
My oldest sister was the smarty pants when it was just the two of us in school (the other three were much younger). In Elementary school, she would always rank either number one or number two of her class of 30 kids each semester. Me? I always came in second, second to the last or being last of the same amount of students, that is.
There were many pictures of my sister holding a wrapped bundle of gift as a result of being the top student. As for me? There was no picture of me holding anything at all except for holding my sister’s gift for her, maybe as a good luck charm. Sadly, that didn’t really help.
I remember vividly my uncle and dad tried to tutor me in Math, but somehow I just didn’t get it. The light bulb was pretty dimmed most of the time, to their/my dismay.
When we arrived to the U.S. in 1980, I was twelve at the time. Everything was so different to say the least, the food, the culture, the weather, the people and of course the school system. My siblings and I attended an ESL school with all the other Vietnamese refugees. Classes were taught by Vietnamese teachers. It took me two years to immerse into an all English speaking class, I was one of three to do so. Apparently, languages came easy for me since I love learning new ones, Science and Math were not so much my favorite areas or my strength. The myth that Asians are “good” at Science and Math pretty much stops with me.
After graduating from the above mentioned ESL school, my siblings and I went to inner-city schools due to where we lived at the time. It was not one of my favorite memories of school, that’s for sure.
The school consists of about 90% of Blacks and the rest was other races, and being a timid refugee with enough English just to get by, I was scared for my life every single day. I don’t remember having mentioned any of this to my parents, since they have their own worries: working hard to support five kids in a strange land, with limited English.
There was not a single day go by at school that someone didn’t get into a fight, and I don’t mean just a shove here or a name calling there. The weapon of choice was anything that can be concealed, teachers were not respected, and classes were disrupted often, this is not to say that all inner-city schools were the same, it just happened that mine was.
Not to digress, but when I heard that Oprah started a Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa and as she expressed:
“I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn’t there. If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don’t ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school.”
Oprah did receive numerous criticisms for this quote, which I think it’s just simply dumbfounded given the fact that she is the most charitable person among celebrities here in the U.S.
Oprah couldn’t have been more right, “the need to learn just isn’t there.” That was how I felt being in a class back in the early 80’s surrounded by students who just didn’t want to be there and they made it difficult for the minority of us who truly wanted to learn, not to mention that the teachers couldn’t do much either in fear for their lives. Although it helped me get ranked, for the first time, in the top 10. And finally holding my own award at the end of the year instead of my sister’s award. Heck, given the intelligence pool at that school, it really didn’t say much about my own ability, did it. But it sure gave me a boost in confidence that I CAN actually learn if I apply myself.
I was not used to this way of life at school. In Viet Nam, teachers are considered the top profession since there’s a huge emphasis on education. The literacy rate for 2003 is estimated at 94% for a low income country of $638 per capita income (2005) with about 80 million people. Needless to say, being able to attend schools is a privilege, a way to climb out of poverty for a better life, not only for yourself but for your family.
My parents, who you would consider as upper-middle class folks in Viet Nam, worked diligently in a shrimp company for a few years and had saved enough money that we were able to move to a safer town with better schools. It was refreshing going to a High School where everyone wanted to learn, it was like night and day compares to the inner-city school that I went to.
I had some excellent teachers and some who shouldn’t be teaching at all. To this day, I hated “History” because of this one teacher who was not very good, he was loud and obnoxious, I mean he was a detention teacher after all. I was afraid of him most of the time and didn’t retain much in that class.
All in all, I learned a lot from High School, with some good and some bad memories (that’s for another post). I came away with a National Honor Society Award for Senior year, although there were subjects that I struggled with like Science and Math. My favorite subjects were French, English and Home Economics, where I learned my arts and crafts which I’ve used throughout my life, remember that dress I wrote about here?
Equipped with a High School diploma, I applied to local colleges and was accepted to Boston College (believe it or not, I applied to this school because of a crush on Doug Flutie, priority you know!). It wasn’t MIT or Harvard, but my parents were more than thrilled that the light bulb from their “late bloomer” was no longer dimmed, not that I became a genius or anything, but at least I survived college and graduated after four years with a degree in Marketing. Now finding a job with that degree in 1991 (unemployment rate was 7.5%) is another post altogether.
To be continued (I hope)…
Well, good for you. You stepped up when it mattered, lol.
You know what’s weird, I went to school in Poland till I was 11 years old too. Then we lived in Greece for a while, awaiting to come to Canada. We came here in 1986 when I was just turning 13.
What a fascinating account. I always love your stories. You have a real gift for telling them!
No but Boston College is a prestigious institution–with or without Doug
Did you paint that picture?
Three cheers for persistence and hard work. Can’t wait to read the continued post.
I can’t wait to hear MORE!!
this is such a touching, interesting post! more please!
The stories of your life are truly so interesting. Thanks for sharing them!
My mom was a teacher for 30+ years. She taught in a school with many low income families. It always amazed her that these kids were on federal assistance, yet constantly talked about their latest video games, the shows they watched on cable TV, or the new $100 pair of tennis shoes they wore. By and large, they were much more concerned with materialistic items than an education. Having said that, I guess it’s really no different anywhere else in the U.S. actually.
Sad.
I love your criteria for choosing a school! Funny.
This is a story I hear over and over with Vietnamese people - within just a few years of coming to the U.S., the parents are economically stable and the kids are at the top of their classes and getting into good colleges.
I suppose I am generalizing because most of the Vietnamese people I met were people that I was in college with, but still I think they should take whatever Vietnamese people have and bottle it for sale because it is good stuff!
Thanks everyone for reading this long post!
Michelle~ Yeah, I did paint those pictures since I was too cheap to fork over $99 for a similar picture at Pottery Barn Kids, mine costs around $15, not including the labor…but heck, I do have the time to spare.
Chaos Control~ I agree with you 110% on that one, no matter how poor the kids are…they still have the latest and greatest gadgets on the market. We never thought of asking our parents for anything like that since they both work hard just to put food on the table.
Suebob~ Thanks for the nice compliment but uh, I’m just an average Joe when it comes to school. I didn’t finish first, second or third in the class. I was glad to have graduated. But thanks all the same!
In a country where only 70 percent of people even graduate from high school, you did pretty well!
I love your life stories! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for allowing me into your life…
This is a wonderful piece of you…and I am looking forward toreading more…