Bao Nguyen |
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Education and Career MR. NGUYEN: Adjusting is challenging overall, because I can notice the culture at home and the culture at school are totally different. I went to the public schools in Orange County. I went to elementary school, junior high school, and high school all within the district that I’m on the Board of now. I also remember in third grade, down here in Orange County, I just moved to a new school and I had made some friends with these two boys who were speaking Spanish. So I learned a couple phrases in Spanish. I learned: “como te ama” and “me amo Bao”. And I wanted to practice that, so I was repeating myself and practicing with them as we were waiting to go back into class. And a teacher came by. It wasn’t our teacher. She pointed in our faces and said, “Speak English”. And I felt the injustice. We weren’t in formal instruction; there was normal chit chat while waiting in line; and I’m learning. I was learning something. MICHAEL: This was during recess? MR. NGUYEN: This was at the end of recess waiting to get into class. And our teacher wasn’t there yet. We were waiting in line. MICHAEL: Is this the first time you experienced racism? MR. NGUYEN: No, I don’t think I had an idea of racism or what that was at that age. MICHAEL: Your school was relatively diverse? MR NGUYEN: It was pretty diverse. SID: It just didn’t feel right. MR. NGUYEN: Yeah, it was technically still recess time. MICHAEL: How can you address these issues to educate people about the past or history in general, about the Vietnam War, about history? MR. NGUYEN: As a school board member (Garden Grove Unified School District) I help to expand our ethnic studies courses in our district, including Mexican-American and Vietnamese-American history. And we currently do offer that in one of our high schools and it’s a great course. The teacher is very passionate about teaching and the students are very interested in learning, because it talks about the experience that’s relevant to the community here (in Garden Grove, CA). In my role as a School Board Member I’ve been able to bring the California State Seal of Biliteracy (http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/sealofbiliteracy.asp) to our district, which awards students who graduate with demonstrated proficiency in English and another language, (ie) Spanish, Vietnamese, etc. Last month in February I was able to bring my initiative onto the agenda for a vote to establish and expand our world and heritage language programs, and we will be the first district in California to offer English and Vietnamese in a dual immersion program as well as Spanish and English at the Elementary level. The context of my experience of being a refugee and being an immigrant of the United States informs what I do as a community leader and as a policy maker. It helps me connect to the community that I serve. The context of my experience has informed me to make our democratic project better in the United States.
Object Description
Profile of | Bao Nguyen |
Title | The Past Has Made Me Who I Am Today |
Profile bio | Bao Nguyen's incredible story begins in 1980, with his family's successful escape from Vietnam while Nguyen was still in his mother's womb. Born in a refugee camp in Thailand with no official citizenship, a young Nguyen endured the arduous journey to the United States with his family before ultimately settling in Garden Grove, CA. Today, he is actively involved in his local community as a member of the Garden Grove Board of Education. Nguyen holds a BA in Political Science from UC Irvine and an MA in Religious Studies from Naropa University in Colorado. He is trilingual in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. |
Profiler bio | Joseph Dorri is a senior from Pasadena, CA majoring in Neuroscience.; Siddharth Gupta is a senior from Orange County, CA majoring in Economics and Business Administration.; Michael Lin is senior from Yangon, Burma, currently residing in Cerritos, CA and majoring in Mechanical Engineering. |
Subject |
Boat people Profile Refugee Viet Nam Bao Nguyen Immigration Post-Vietnam War Thailand Refugee Camp Vietnamese American |
Profiled by | Dorri, Joseph; Gupta, Siddharth; Lin, Michael |
Profile date | 2014-04-11 |
Geographic subject (city or populated place) | New York; Nashville, Garden Grove; Saigon; Ho Chi Minh City |
Geographic subject (county) | Davidson; Orange |
Geographic subject (state) | New York; Tennessee; California |
Geographic subject (country) | Thailand; Vietnam; USA |
Coverage date | 1980 |
Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/ |
Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
Type |
images video |
Format | 1 image; 3 video files (00:13:18), 3 transcripts |
Language | English |
Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
Part of collection | An Other War Memorial -- Memories of the American War in Viet Nam |
Access conditions | Born digital -- no physical access. |
Repository name |
USC Libraries Special Collections |
Repository address | Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 |
Repository email | specol@usc.edu |
Filename | nguyenbao |
Description
Profile of | Bao Nguyen |
Title | Education & Career |
Format | 1 transcript, 1 p. |
Filename | nguyenbao-vid2_tr2.pdf |
Full text | Education and Career MR. NGUYEN: Adjusting is challenging overall, because I can notice the culture at home and the culture at school are totally different. I went to the public schools in Orange County. I went to elementary school, junior high school, and high school all within the district that I’m on the Board of now. I also remember in third grade, down here in Orange County, I just moved to a new school and I had made some friends with these two boys who were speaking Spanish. So I learned a couple phrases in Spanish. I learned: “como te ama” and “me amo Bao”. And I wanted to practice that, so I was repeating myself and practicing with them as we were waiting to go back into class. And a teacher came by. It wasn’t our teacher. She pointed in our faces and said, “Speak English”. And I felt the injustice. We weren’t in formal instruction; there was normal chit chat while waiting in line; and I’m learning. I was learning something. MICHAEL: This was during recess? MR. NGUYEN: This was at the end of recess waiting to get into class. And our teacher wasn’t there yet. We were waiting in line. MICHAEL: Is this the first time you experienced racism? MR. NGUYEN: No, I don’t think I had an idea of racism or what that was at that age. MICHAEL: Your school was relatively diverse? MR NGUYEN: It was pretty diverse. SID: It just didn’t feel right. MR. NGUYEN: Yeah, it was technically still recess time. MICHAEL: How can you address these issues to educate people about the past or history in general, about the Vietnam War, about history? MR. NGUYEN: As a school board member (Garden Grove Unified School District) I help to expand our ethnic studies courses in our district, including Mexican-American and Vietnamese-American history. And we currently do offer that in one of our high schools and it’s a great course. The teacher is very passionate about teaching and the students are very interested in learning, because it talks about the experience that’s relevant to the community here (in Garden Grove, CA). In my role as a School Board Member I’ve been able to bring the California State Seal of Biliteracy (http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/sealofbiliteracy.asp) to our district, which awards students who graduate with demonstrated proficiency in English and another language, (ie) Spanish, Vietnamese, etc. Last month in February I was able to bring my initiative onto the agenda for a vote to establish and expand our world and heritage language programs, and we will be the first district in California to offer English and Vietnamese in a dual immersion program as well as Spanish and English at the Elementary level. The context of my experience of being a refugee and being an immigrant of the United States informs what I do as a community leader and as a policy maker. It helps me connect to the community that I serve. The context of my experience has informed me to make our democratic project better in the United States. |
Archival file | Volume2/nguyenbao-vid2_tr2.pdf |