Youth Excellence 2001 Reflection

Where their roots are from

Reflections on the Vietnamese Culture and Science Association's 5th annual Vietnamese American Youth Excellence Recognition Luncheon

With an eloquent and inspiring speech, Mrs. Sheila Jackson Lee US Representative (D-Houston) has showered her wishes and applause on our 19 Vietnamese prides at the VCSA 5th annual Vietnamese American Youth Excellence Recognition Luncheon, July 29, 2001. More than 830 guests, sponsors, friends and families have come to share with us the immense sense of pride in our students' spectacular academic achievements!

A week ago, 18 Vietnamese Valedictorians and Salutatorians - an impressive quarter of all Dallas 2001 high school' Valedictorians and Salutatorians - have been honored by VCSA Dallas chapter. NBC broadcast the news twice.

Compared to all previous VCSA Recognition luncheons, the 5th luncheon in Houston was by far the most successful, well organized and interesting. What really mattered this year was that the entire event's main organizers were past recipients who came back to put the show together. Yes, they did it all: fund raising, advertising, soliciting donations, public relations, printing, planning, and entertaining, with some guidance from other veteran VCSA members!

Huy Le, class of 1997, UT Law school, was the organizer of the 2001 luncheon, with assistants Vera Tran, (UH- Baylor Premedical Academy) and Elizabeth Thy Nguyen (UH Pre-Pharmacy), class of 2000. Past recipients who came back to be MC, dancers, singers, and fashion show models were Huy Pham (MIT), Trang Pham (Stanford), Hung Nguyen (Harvard), Linh Thu Do (UT Law school), Linh Thi Do (Rice University), Bich Chi Nguyen (U of Pennsylvania), Dana Bui (U of St Thomas) and many others. They have truly amazed the audience by showing their versatile performing skills.

The traditional but creative Chopstick Dance with 12 lovely young ladies in traditional attire and chopsticks attracted all audience's attention from beginning to end. Our hat off to Trang Pham! She did not just participate in every single entertainment item on the program: MC'ing, dancing, singing, modeling.. but she gave it the best she had of her! She searched and found the song, she learned to design the dance. She worked around the clock with a dance team of many first-time-ever-dancers in order to produce such a lovely piece of work! For those who knew her, she'd rather go through a lot of challenge to find and revive that folklore dance from her mother and grandmother' time than opt for something easier and less impressive. Her persistence in preserving and presenting this beautiful piece of dance deserved all the applause from the audience.

The next performance, from No. 1 "VCSA Dao Bich Chi Endowment scholarship's Talent show" Uyen Vi Tran, also captivated everybody's attention. Vi dressed in a lovely pink color ao dai and sang the Vietnamese song "Co Tam Ngay Nay" with some charming illustrative moves. It's worth noting that Vi Tran, at her age of 16, is already a TA-soon-to-be-teacher of a VSL class at the Vietnamese Catholic church Our Lady of Lavang, Houston Texas!

Huy Le then played the "Unicorn dance drum" with his nationally- acclaimed drum team Kim Long, as a traditional prelude to the fashion show "Vietnamese women costume throughout history", designed and choreographed by Mrs. Hoang Quy Do.

These lovely young ladies, being the elite students from Ivy Leagues schools or other universities from across the country, have surprised and totally charmed the audience with their traditional feminine Vietnamese attire. They looked innocent in their white school uniform, simple in their farmer-style pants and shirts, but elegant and graceful in their special ao dai of Hanoi, Hue and Saigon. The 3 main cities of Vietnam which, by twists and turns of history, have respectively become capitals of the country, thus centers of fashion and design.

It is to be noted that although the male recipients of VSCA Youth Excellence Luncheon awards accounted for less than 20-30% of all recipients historically, they have participated enthusiastically in all performances. They, of course, played the 'irreplaceable' role of the groom in the lovely traditional wedding costume presentation that ended the entertainment program.

Right after lunch, the keynote speech started with the keynote speaker from Washington DC, Law school professor Viet Dinh, newly appointed to the Legal Policy Department -US Assistant General Attorney's position, the highest US federal government position ever held by a Vietnamese. 23 years ago, he and his family left Vietnam on a small fishing boat and arrived in the states on a Thanksgiving weekend. Only 9 years ago, his whole family finally reunited!

Mr. Dinh addressed to the proud VCSA 2001 honorees in English, with warm congratulations and best wishes. He expressed his pleasant surprise in seeing quite an impressive program put together by a group of such young and energetic people. He spoke from his heart to a packed audience of 830, sharing his family story of two-time-refugees, the exodus down south in 1954 and the escape to freedom after 1975. He told the Class of 2001's honorees to never forget the sacrifice of their parents to enable them to be where they are today. He advised them to see the bigger picture, to have a larger vision of what they can achieve in the future - as individuals and as a part of the community, the society and the world - while fulfilling their duties in schools which may appear at times repetitive, or even mediocre. He also inspired the audience with emphasis on the wonderful success of the Vietnamese community in the States, from a refugee to a self - sustaining community, a community of profession starting to give back influence. He invited all the community leaders to set aside their divergent agendas in order to be one, to build a strong and loving community, looking out for each other and looking forward. He thanked the VCSA for its commitment to excellence and to the community.

The recognition section following the keynote speech, the-most-waited-for-moment for the honorees and their family, started with a very lively bilingual introduction of each student. The parents of each honoree were called upon to stand up to be recognized and applauded when their son/daughter were recognized and given awards.

The 2001 Valedictorians were Trung Vuong Tran (Sam Houston, Houston ISD), En Ly Phan (Milby, Houston ISD), Karen Phan (Westside, Houston ISD), Christine Phan (Spring Woods, Spring Branch ISD), Thu Thuy Nguyen (Thomas Jefferson, Port Arthur ISD), Phi Doan (Angleton, Angleton ISD), The Thanh Nguyen (Dobie, Pasadena ISD) and Kim Thuong Pham (Palacios, Palacios ISD).

The 2001 Salutatorians were Duong Huynh (Aldine, Aldine ISD), Nhu Quynh Lam (Klein Forest, Klein ISD), Kim Nguyen (Jefferson Davis, Houston ISD), My Anh Michel Nguyen (Hightower, FortBend ISD), Kim Van Pham (Hastings, Alief ISD), Quoc Anh Pham (South Houston, Houston ISD), Annie Tran (South Houston, Houston ISD), Tran Tran Nguyen (Dickinson, Dickinson ISD), Kim Thoi Nguyen (Thomas Jefferson, Port Arthur ISD), Jennifer Tran (Palacios, Palacios ISD) and Kim Minh Lai (Sharpstown, Houston ISD).

Beside the uniform gift package consisting of a VCSA recognition plaque, a check and various gifts, two other special awards were also presented to the 2001 graduates.

The "Dao-Le scholarship Best of the Best" award, sponsored by Mrs. Duy Loan Le, Texas Instrument Fellow - Women in Technology International Hall of Fame - for the writer of the one essay that conveys the most difficult obstacles and the best effort to overcome them in order to achieve success - was granted to Christine Phan, Valedictorian, Spring Woods, Spring Branch ISD. Mrs. Duy Loan Le has touched the audience in a special way when she mentioned about the meaning of "Dao Le scholarship". She said the Dao-Le Foundation was established in 1999 and named Dao-Le to honor two men: Mr. Thanh Thien Le, her father, the one who has taught her the importance of education since her childhood and Mr. Tuan Nhat Dao, her husband, the one who has provided her with unconditional love and support for nearly 20 years. Isn't it something beautiful and Vietnamese too? When a woman - who has attained that kind of success many people could only dream of in a lifetime - spoke about sacrifice and gratitude! Mrs. Duy Loan Le shared with the audience a piece of Christine Phan' essay. Christine wrote about all the indescribable losses that had swept through her life but they had not stopped her from living a happy life and from striving to succeed. As she was in Spain on that day, her mom was called upon to receive the recognition and award on her behalf.

The Vietnamese language contest award, sponsored by VCSA, were given to Tran Tran Nguyen (Salutatorian-Dickinson, Dickinson ISD), 1st winner and Trung Vuong Tran (Valedictorian-Sam Houston, Houston ISD), 2nd winner. Both of the students, although born in the States, scored almost perfect on a difficult exam to test their ability to read, understand, write and speak Vietnamese. When being asked about the most influencing or loved person in their life, most of students have replied with "parents". They added that they have tried to study hard to make their parents proud as well.

After the recognition awards distribution, En Ly Phan and The Thanh Nguyen took turn to thank the audience in Vietnamese and English, on behalf of their fellow honorees.

The Recognition luncheon ended with a special presentation -the song "The wind beneath my wings". The song was intentionally excluded from the program book in order to surprise all the parents in the audience to whom it was dedicated. All past and current recipients, having rehearsed together only 15 minutes the day before the luncheon, had sung this song with such an emotion-filled voice that connected to the heart of many people present. It was genuinely the most moving moment of the whole recognition luncheon!

It's hard to tell how it feels to be honored in the VCSA 5th annual Vietnamese American Youth Excellence Recognition. The emotion was simply overwhelming for the students, onstage or offstage, as they have put it.

Being honored by the Vietnamese community wakes up in them not just a strong sense of being Vietnamese, but also a sense of being deep-rooted in their Vietnamese heritage. A sense of belonging. As some of the students have written to VCSA, in their post-luncheon thank you note, the event has been more than awakening to them.

For the first time in their life, they know what they have achieved as individuals means a great deal not just to their own family! They know the whole Vietnamese community out there cares for them. They know the "country of their heritage"- the country their parents have left behind in search of freedom a quarter of century ago - is truly where the tradition of hard work had come from and had been passed down to them from their parents. They know it, and they do take pride in it.

Most of our 19 Salutatorians and Valedictorians students were not born in Vietnam. The country to which they all pledge allegiance is the United States of America. Many of them have never been to Vietnam; some of them do not feel comfortable yet speaking Vietnamese. It's not easy for them to give a definition of either "homeland" or "mother tongue" since the concepts seem vague. They grow up in the States. They think in English. It must be difficult for them to define "Vietnam" since it's no longer "the country of your birth, of the people who speak the same language and share the same customs with you"!

But we can all see and feel the pride that shines in their eyes of being Vietnamese. The values they hold dear are definitely Vietnamese.

No matter where they go in the world, they will always remember that Vietnam is where their roots are from.

Phuong Mai.