The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam

Headmaster Percivial Chen is a proud Chinese born man who runs English language school during the cusp of the Vietnam War. In his refusal to accept his adopted country's turbulent times, his gamble becomes a life changer. Join From Left to Write on November 15 as we discuss the The Headmaster's Wager. As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.

What a pleasure to interview our International Student for this blog post. An Ho is our friend through the International Host Family program of the University of Kentucky. She is from Vietnam which Vincent Lam so vividly brought to life in his novel. An Ho studied first in Washington state and then came to Lexington, KY to finish her degree in Bio-chemistry.

One of the most interesting facts about An is that she is the niece of Major General Le Minh Dao, who fought for the People’s Army of Vietnam and famously defended Saigon in the last battle before it fell. Here is the Wikipedia link about him. 

I asked An the following questions:

Brenda: How do the Vietnamese people feel about the US now?

An: My perspective is from the point of view of Vietnamese students rather than Vietnamese people since my experiences in the U.S are as a student. Parents still want to send their children to study abroad, especially in the U.S, and students still think of studying abroad in the U.S as their first choice. Though recently the dramatic change in the economy may cause some doubts and fear, we still prefer to go to the U.S. In reality, there is still no country that has overcome the U.S. To me, as I have studied in the U.S, my strength and my wealth have been increased, I so hope that the country can still keep its best ranking/position over the world.

Brenda : How do you feel about being away from home? 

An: There are some conflicting feelings and thoughts when I live far way from home. Profoundly, there is nothing that can take the place of my home; it is always in my heart. However, to adapt and live well with the current environment, I have to avoid my thoughts of home—let it become my past with many beautiful memories. I keep my life moving on with the present and toward to the future. In order to do that, I just think that there are in life many things that I should take advantage to learn. I should keep a positive attitude and an open mind to welcome new things to happen. Yet occasionally, I cry due to my homesick emotion. But certainly, I'm also cheerful for what I conquer and achieve in this world.

Brenda: Is the US different from what you thought it would be before you came here?

An: Of course it is a different since dreams vary from experiences. My experiences are focused more on study. When I was in my country and decided to study in the U.S, I believed that the U.S education was the best over the world, in terms of offering high knowledge and expectations.

However, when I first came here, I found that not many students could do math well in US colleges. Also not many people had high expectations in their studies and attempts to pursue higher degrees. For instance, when I took a sociology course in my old community college, I posted in the online discussion that I love to study and consider it a chance to push me to a higher position in society. But one my classmate replied that my thinking was old. I may have some bias, but I see people in the U.S tend to enjoy their lives with their temporary present. Many young adults just want to find jobs and earn money. Until they get older, or the economy is
 gone down and they cannot qualify for their jobs, they go back to school to study.

Despite these aspects, in my opinion, the U.S education still has some values. In my experience, I think the term "the best U.S education" should be recognized by the way of its training people to develop critical thinking, approach and solve problems. Knowledge is made to become approachable and applicable. It is built up on a hierarchy from basic to advance, which students can back up and retrieve their knowledge, in case they get lost. Generally, as long as we wish to study, we can study. To me, these are some strong points that can label the U.S as "the best country with offering challenges and chances". Indeed, the U.S education has changed my mind and contributed to my belief and confidence that I can study, research, discover new concepts, and apply them to reality.

#1 Path out of Poverty: Education

As I continue to recover from a flu that mowed me down, I hope you'll agree this old blog post bears repeating.

Having learned at an early age that I was good at school, I absorbed the message like good body lotion soaks in that education was my ticket out of poverty. School, with few exceptions, became a refuge---a glorious island of organization and positive experiences in a sea of chaos. I never went through a stage in which I resisted going. I grieve and feel burdened by the fact that all children of poverty do not get this message as strongly as I did or are unable to receive the message. Decades ago I heard commentator Paul Harvey say the "highest place in heaven will be reserved for the person who clears the snow from the church steps on Sunday mornings." I disagree. The highest place in heaven goes to teachers who communicate to students that education is still the first and best ticket out of poverty. I cried when I heard President Barack Obama point out to African-American children the realistic stats on how many poor, black boys will make it out of poverty on basketball scholarships! Education unlocks far more doors than basketball.   

With these feelings about school---in spite of fourteen different elementary schools---it's not surprising I blossomed in high school. I was still shy but functioned well in class, in several extra-curricular organizations and with a small group of friends. And I carried the mantle of designated achiever in my family. One of my boyfriends later told me they called me the "shy Univac." For younger readers, the Univac was the first significant iteration of a computer. Those years constituted the beginning of my desire to find myself and it wasn't easy. Although I was shy, I was a performer. Although I was good at school, I didn't have a self definition of being smart. In many respects, I didn't know who I was or who I wanted to be. 

The religious piece of my identity rested firmly in place but when nominated to be in a beauty pageant, I was thrilled. One of the judges when he read I was going to be a Southern Baptist missionary asked, "Then why are you in a beauty pageant?" I didn't understand why the two needed to be mutually exclusive.

At that point I fully expected to be a missionary. I applied only to three Baptist colleges, was admitted to all three and chose Georgetown because it was close to our original hometown, Evansville, IN and it was where Aunt BJ had gone to undergraduate school. Marriage, birth of my son, Husband Number One's illness moved me away from missionary plans but the Georgetown College environment and culture during the Sixties proved to be a safe environment for a young woman trying to find herself. In 1965, Georgetown had never had a dance on campus. Those wild fraternity boys had off campus dances and then my sorority staged the first off-campus dance sponsored by women. Sin and degradation! Finally, my senior year, the first on-campus dance was sanctioned. I never had a curfew until I arrived at Georgetown! 

God bless the role of education on my path.