Month: November 2022

FIRST GRADE

I recall it vividly the first day I officially stepped foot, passing the school’s gate of my first class day ever. I was excited days before that Monday because I thought it would be a trip on vacation. However, when my dad released his hand and started to fade away, leaving me with my first ever teacher and friends I had never seen before, I began to panic and burst into tears, demanding my father. However, after having a hard time, my teacher successfully calmed me down by handing me a teddy bear.

 SECOND GRADE

As an active person since a young age and as the head of the class, I participated in every class and school activity. At the annual school dance, with no hesitation, I raised my hand when my teacher asked who would like to be in the class dance group with the reward of candy for participating. I remembered we didn’t achieve any prizes, but it seemed like I didn’t care much at that moment.

THIRD GRADE 

I stood at the center of the stage as the spotlight shined at my face. I was nervous, hearing the heart beating that seemed to make me zone out. Reminisced back to kindergarten, my memories sprang to my mind vividly once I stated in front of people, “ I would sing “ Ca Nha Thuong Nhau”- a Vietnamese singer. I closed my eyes, pouring my soul out into the lyrics in the hope of receiving audience applause. When I sang the last notes, my parents surprisingly went to the stage to give me a huge flower, showing satisfaction clearly in their face’s expressions. “ We are proud of you, my son.” 

FOURTH GRADE

Besides dancing and singing, I considered myself an athlete at that time with my great passion for soccer. We would go out to the hard cement play yard and have a full of swear matches with a plastic soccer ball at noon during recess. We were competitive kids as the team who lost had to do whatever the other team members commanded in one day. As a result, I broke my leg after dribbling the ball and getting a full two legs tackle from the fattiest boy during a match.

FIFTH GRADE

As I made my way down the long airport corridor, it was like I had jumped 20 years into

the future; standing before me was a novel piece of equipment I had never seen before. I stood in

awe as I watched the robotic metal box devouring its customer’s 200 Japanese Yen bill before

regurgitating the crisp, ice-cold Coca-Cola. When I arrived in Tokyo that day for the international math competition, it was my first time seeing what I now know is called “a vending machine.” It was my first time being in a foreign country, participating in an international competition.

SIXTH GRADE 

On my first day, I felt like being a self-centered person for the first time who drew attention from many curious eyes of the old students in my class. They started to look me up and down and gossip behind my back. The fierce glint was such an inconvenient experience that I hadn’t undergone before in my old school. At that moment, I was just aware that life wasn’t just a bowl of cherries as I expected. I felt like I drowned in the oceans with ferocious sharks surrounding me, and I also didn’t even know how to seek help. I am different.

SEVENTH GRADE

After a series of days of loneliness, “When we are no longer able to change the situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”- Victor’s Frank was the lesson I truly understood. Admittedly, adapting to the new environment is inevitable. Instead of running away from reality, I must embrace and flow it. ​​Soon I started to feel more valued at school, as people began coming to me for fashion advice rather than to make a snide comment. But as my social circle expanded, my grades took a toll. The countless days spent on YouTube watching fashion shows decreased the time I should have been spending on solving math problems. The day I received my semester grade report, I could not believe that someone who always put her grades first now barely passed his classes. I had changed for the worse.

EIGHTH GRADE

The third time back to the Internation Math Competition, I was no less furious than my first Japan trip. This time, it was held in the U.S, the land of the dreamers. This trip contributed a lot to my future education path as I was in love with the beautiful and highly developed country. I have immersed myself in breathtaking landscapes. 

NINTH GRADE: 

I participated in The Connected We, which runs anti-bullying and anti-school violence programs. I began studying mental health problems through that club, particularly in people who do not know how to deal with their issues and confront their fears. Since then, I have wanted to work on enhancing people’s well-being. Mental health plays a vital role in people’s healthy growth, which is a severe issue in Vietnam. The Vietnamese public is not sophisticated about how to overcome mental health problems.

TENTH GRADE: 

 I was brooding and taciturn. Though I was not an outstanding student with straight A scores in transcripts like my peers, I was obsessed with academic achievement. Which meant I always felt overwhelmed and exhausted and burdened with homework. The purpose of studying for me back in those days was to boost my confidence and ego; I did not want to be left behind academically by my friends at school. This mindset was causing me nightmares and filling me with jealousy, a bit like a villain straight out of fairytales. I would never have escaped these toxic thoughts if my brother, Simon, had not come into my life.

ELEVENTH GRADE: 

To learn is to grow and the best lesson one can ever get is failure. In my junior year, I became the captain of my school’s soccer team. We made it to the state championship game a strong group like we are. The expectations were high, and our pressure was expected to perform our best. However, we lost the final match 2-1 to everyone’s disappointment. I was furious, for I knew we were capable of much more. I held one of my teammate’s jerseys, accusing him of making us lose the game. The tension was intense among my teammates, vying for who to blame. I failed as a leader, and I failed as a member as I started a conflict between my teammates and failed to realize that we shared victories and failures as a team.

TWELFTH GRADE: 

In Vietnam, there is a diversity of landscapes and other artwork missing in the news media and social media platforms. I genuinely believe in the power of art to change the world and make a significant difference in our lives. I, therefore, decided to create a website with other young Vietnamese people who share this same passion for art. I called it: The Chamoline. Working together on the website, we, as a team, learned and grew. Being part of this small and fun team, I nearly forgot the world outside was struggling with a pandemic. We built a strong work community through collaborative skills around a virtual medium. There were, of course, frustrating moments with zoom, but with patience and humor, we marched on. Sometimes, clashes of viewpoints erupted, yet in the spirit of inclusive and open-minded teamwork, we could iron out differences. Since a tree does not make a forest, I piloted my club by insisting we stick together like broomsticks. Thanks to many ups and downs, I grew more independent and mature, reaching my best version of myself each day passed. 

 

Vietnam is famous for its several dishes that appear in holidays and festivals, especially the Tet holiday. This holiday takes place from the very first day of the lunar calendar until at least the third day. Although occurring in a short period, it is believed to be the most important and popular holiday in Vietnam. Because it was the beginning of spring, which was a perfect time for a brand new start, even colorful flowers were blooming, birds were singing on tall branches of trees and said hello to the new beginning of the year. It is a time when all family members who are working from different regions of Vietnam go back home and spend time together. Food is also the main factor that makes Tet become a memorable holiday, and a dish that is seen as a necessary part of this holiday is Banh Chung.  The dish, delicious and faithful,  made the Tet holiday more colorful.

 To prepare for the new year, I usually helped my parents with the housework and cooked dishes that they must have. I removed all the dust that covered the furniture and bookshelves, changed the bedsheets, and decorated the house. My hands holding the brush, slowly I wiped all the spider webs on the top of the closet that had been staying there during the year. Tiny dusty gentle fly into the air and disappear and start to stick on my black t-shirt. The night before the first day of the year, all the members would sit around and talk under the shining sky full of stars about what we did, what we regretted, missed, and had achieved. 

One of the dishes that I must mention is Banh Chung. It is a Savory sticky rice cake that was invented in the 18th century of Vietnam 4000 years ago. Banh Chung has a square shape representing the ground that wishes for rich harvests. Up to now, this has become the most famous and irreplaceable traditional Vietnamese food in Tet Holiday. The main ingredients of it are fresh pork with green beans covered by glutinous rice that shone like pearls and makes the cake more stunning. Wrapped in green banana leaves, the whole Banh Chung had the green color and the better favor. Rice cake is wrapped in a nice square shape, and the wrapping power must be neither tight nor loose which helps all the textures stick together. After that, the cake would be steamed in a huge pot and cooked overnight by wood. On the cool night, humid smoke from the pot sky brings all the love of our family to keep flying up to the high. The smell of Banh Chung made the Tet’s atmosphere more cozy and warm. 

On the first day of the year, my mom would cut the cake and share it with the family members. Slowly, every single layer of banana leaves was removed and under it, a hot and gorgeous green Banh Chung appeared. The cover, which is made of glutinous rice, is shiny and sticks to the leaves. The first cut revealed the juicy pork and green beans inside. Taking the first bite, I could feel the heat of the cake that just took out from the pot. The sticky rice, greasy from the pork, and the buttery taste from the green beans mixed made a tasty favor that I could not forget. The taste was a huge fill of love that our family spent together made it even more delicious. Because the cake was big so I was full with only one slide of it. 

This Tet holiday was full of Banh Chung’s flavors and enthusiasm for me because that was the last Tet I spent with my parents before I went to study abroad. The Tet holiday made people closer together and Tet would not be fulfilled if there was no Banh Chung