A Whole New World...Well, actually a whole new school for the next three weeks

Blogs represent an effective means for the author to detail a narrative, describe observations, and render reflections of events that typically center around a unique experience. As blog entries are published, viewers are allowed to “walk a mile in the shoes” of the author and relive the experience through written text, photos and videos. Since I received word of my success in the Fulbright award application process, I have been looking forward to the opportunity to compose my thoughts and offer the audience a window into my journey to Vietnam. My plan was to begin the blog approximately one week prior to scheduled departure for Vietnam with entries that would introduce myself and provide insight in to the Fulbright award process and then, once I arrived in Vietnam, I would offer a description of my activities on a daily basis, serving as a diary of sorts. And this was done…well, sort of. I did have two blog entries published prior to my flight and was ready to publish a third entry upon my arrival at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School in Dong Thap Province. 

At that point, two issues began to develop, in succession. The first issue, and probably the most important, was internet access. Internet has been provided to me since my arrival at the school but the signal has been, at times, weak and intermittent. This provided an obstacle in transferring the photos and videos from my phone camera to the computer. Oftentimes, the size of these media files exceeded 1 MB, making the downloading process very laborious. The second issue arose as I began to explore and experience a variety of major facets of the Vietnamese culture and across a wide spectrum. As I amassed these experiences, I reassessed my strategy for my blog. Instead of composing a blog highlighting the activities that occur on a daily basis, I decided to develop blog entries corresponding to specific topics. These topics are: School (the blog topic for this entry), Duties and Responsibilities, People, Food, Transportation, and City Life, followed by three blog entries which will be revealed at the following these seven blog entries. With that explanation out of the way, I now would like to introduce you to the school where I will be living, teaching, working with teachers, evaluating classes, and participating in student activities – Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School.

             Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School is located in Dong Thap province in Southern Vietnam, approximately 170 km from Ho Chi Minh City. The school operates from September to May and has a total student enrollment of 800 students, classified in Grades 10 – 12. The word Gifted in the school name comes with a lot of pride, honor, and lofty expectations of an inherent dedication to knowledge and strong work ethic on behalf of the students. There are two gifted schools in the province, which means admission to Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School is extremely competitive. Success for students in the educational system in Vietnam as well as in future endeavors and opportunities are contingent on one factor – test scores. In order to gain admission into the school, students must sit for three days of testing on four topics: English, Literature, Mathematics and a subject of their designated major. Students are selected for admission by their cumulative score on all of the exams.

             The school has three stories or level to it and, in general, the bottom level is dedicated to classes required by the Grade 10 students, the second level is for Grade 11 students and the third (top) level is for Grade 12 students.

The class size is generally capped at 35 students with each classroom providing desks/seating for each student and a chalkboard/presentation for the teacher to use for their lessons.

             The student’s daily schedule is structured into two parts: morning and afternoon. In the morning from 7:15 am – 11:40 am, students take 5 classes with each class being 45 minutes in length. The students do have an extended break at 10:00 am in the morning which includes exercises. The exercises are choreographed to a Vietnamese song that has a very strong, patriotic undertone. The premise of the song is built upon a famous profound quote by President John F. Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Video of Morning Activity

             At 11:40 am, students are released for lunch at the student cafeteria, known as the Can Tin.

This is where students, faculty and staff come to eat all meals of the day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have eaten many a meal at the Can Tin and each meal is very delicious. The Can Tin is run by a husband and wife team who are always seen either preparing the food, assisting in the service line, serving as a cashier to take the money for the meals, cleaning the tables once the students have finished eating, and then washing the dishes, plates and utensils for the next day. The Can Tin formally opens at 7:00 am and continues open throughout the day into the early evening (I believe the closing time is 9:00 pm). I have never seen two individuals with such a strong work ethic and dedication to serving the students, faculty, and staff at the school. Below is a picture of the wife who operates the Can Tin.

             Following lunch (from 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm), the students then take 3 classes, as directed by school administration, that generally involve elective classes. Because education and academic success is a top priority for many of the students, they often take night classes either at the school or at the homes of teachers who have converted a room in their home into a classroom with desks/tables for the students to sit and a chalkboard at the front of the class. Below is a photo of a typical English class, conducted by my host colleague, Mr. Linh, at his home.

             In addition, there are approximately 30 student clubs and organizations that span a wide spectrum of interests for the students to participate in. At Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School, one afternoon out of the week is designated for club meetings and activities, limiting students to participate in only one. At Richardson High School, we also offer a number of opportunities for students to participate in student clubs and organizations and there is no limit (except for time, of course) to the number of clubs that students may join. I have had a chance to visit with and attend events sponsored by one of those clubs – English Speaking Club – and my first impression was one of WOW. The event was a program that gave student members a chance to sample various foods, and participate in singing, dancing, and games.

By the way, you are probably wondering which club has the most student members. That would be the Badminton Club, with approximately 100 students.

             As I mentioned earlier, admission into Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School is extremely competitive and open to any student in the Dong Thap province as long as they have achieved scores on the exams that are among the highest. I am not sure of the exact percentages, but some students live very close to the school (within several kilometers), involving anywhere of a 5 minute to a 20 minute commute to school, depending on their mode of transportation (motorbike or traditional bike). Some students come from remote villages, which (about 100 kilometers away) making a commute virtually impossible. To accommodate these students, Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School has dormitories where students reside at the school during the week and then travel home to be with their family on the weekends. The dormitory consists of one floor with rooms for the boys and another floor with rooms for the girls. 

             In addition, there is a special wing in the dormitory for visitors and guests of the school. This is where my room (005) is during my stay. 

The room is very nice and within 20 to 30 steps of the Can Tin and the school itself. So, what does my room look like? I am so glad you asked.

The room is akin to a one bedroom efficiency apartment in the United States. I have a bed, desk, refrigerator, a TV (which I rarely have used only because I am busy preparing for the upcoming lessons), a shower, toilet, storage space and a clothes washer. It is quite comfortable and provides me with easy access to the school grounds.

             

Faculty Lounge

Every school has a faculty lounge, a room that is sacred territory for the teachers and staff of a school and provides a safe haven to congregate and relax in between teaching. The Faculty Lounge is approximately the size of a typical classroom, equipped with a TV monitor, reading material such as newspapers and magazines, a sink, a white board and a water cooler. Almost everything that the faculty lounge at Richardson High School has with one major exception – it has a restroom in the lounge area.

First Day at School

             As I stated earlier in this blog entry, the direction of my blog has shifted from providing a daily account of my activities to entries that focused on general topics and I will stay true to that format, with the exception of two instances, two days that are very important to my visit in Vietnam – my first day at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School and my last day in Vietnam. Here I would like to speak about my first day at my new school. It was a day filled with activities and scheduled meetings that left me with a feeling of being honored to have been selected to be a guest of the school.

             The day was Monday, September 23 and it began bright and early with a school-wide assembly in the courtyard of the school. The assembly is conducted every Monday morning and required of all students to attend. I felt privileged to have a seat in the front row next to the principal, Tran Minh Luan and other school administrators/teachers. The assembly began with a program presented by a preselected class of students who prepare and act a number of small scenes with an underlying positive message for the school. This morning’s topic was Picking Up Trash & Recycling. The students were very creative with their production of the skits and in their performances.

             As we sat and watched the program, Mr. Luan asked me to prepare a short speech to give to the school. Wait, what? I had not expected to give remarks so I quickly began to outline a speech and think about important points that I wanted to stress to the students, faculty and staff at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School. Luckily, I did have time to sketch out some ideas when I was invited to come up on stage. One of the students who was already on stage served as my translator and did a fantastic job. So, how did I do? Judge for yourself in the video clip below:

Presentation at Student Assembly on First Day

Following my short speech, I was presented with a bouquet of flowers and a sincere and heartfelt welcome to the school.

After the assembly, I was taken on a tour of the school and formally introduced to many of the faculty and staff. I was able to speak to teachers on an individual basis, as well as in groups, learning about the various curricula and instruction methods utilized at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School. As the time approached 11:30 am, I was brought to the Can Tin for my first meal on campus. Rice is a staple of many Vietnamese dishes and the great thing is...I LOVE rice. The meal often comes on a tray with a meat, vegetable, and soup. As a usual accompaniment to meals in the Can Tin is a fish sauce, which taste great on rice.

While at the Can Tin, I had a chance to eat lunch with several students and to visit with them. They were very personable, friendly and came with many questions. They wanted to know about me, my school, my students, and everything Texas and America. I, in turn, came with questions as well about their school, their classes, their academic goals and dreams as well as everything Vietnam. It was a very pleasant and interesting exchange of information with each of us walking away with a wealth of information of each country’s culture, language, food, and, education system.

Field Trip

             After lunch, I was invited to participate in a field trip to a historical site in Dong Thap Province – the tomb and museum of the Revered Nguyen Sinh Sac, the father of Ho Chi Minh. It was a very solemn and serene place where the students provided me with a biography and historical facts of Revered Nguyen Sinh Sac, his childhood, his family, and his significant contributions to the history of Vietnam.

             While visiting the historical site, I had the opportunity to cross a bridge…well, not exactly a bridge but more like bamboo stalks…over a pond. After making sure with the other teachers that it was OK to do, I took the challenge and made it across without falling into the water. Wanna see? Well, OK. It seems that there was a slight difficulty in uploading the video directly to this blog entry so, just like the video toward the beginning of the blog entry, I am including a link to the video for your entertainment.

Crossing a Bamboo Bridge

A successful but very busy day if I do say so myself. We wrapped up the field trip with a group picture. 

The teachers and students then went to dinner at a nearby restaurant. How big was our group? I think the selfie will show you!

             As I wrap up this blog entry, you are probably wondering how a song title from the Disney movie Aladdin, A Whole New World, factors into my blog message and why there might be a link between the two. In actuality, there is an evident and, in my opinion, a strong link between the two. As a teacher, I spend my time during the school day and very often many hours in the evenings or the weekends committed to preparing lessons, activities, exercises, and projects that will engage my students and cultivate an interest in physics. My students are the primary reason that I considered teaching in the first place. In fact, you might say that they are my world. When the Fulbright project presented itself, I found myself wondering about the possibilities and opportunities that would lie ahead where I could make a difference for the teachers at a school literally half way around the world and make an impact on their students. As I have come to realize, this experience has opened my eyes to a whole new world.

Coming Up Next: Now that you have read about my introduction to the school, to the faculty and to the students, you are probably wondering exactly what I will be doing during my three week stay at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School. In this next blog entry, you will follow along as I describe my duties and responsibilities.

Disclaimer: The blog, "Dr. H's Fulbright Experience", is not an official site of the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State. The views expressed in this blog are entirely those of George Hademenos and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.