There is a saying that: “If you’re climbing the ladder of life, you go rung by rung, one step at a time. Don’t look too far up, set your goals high but take one step at a time. Sometimes you don’t think you’re progressing, until you step back and see how high you’ve really gone”. The trip to America which is far away from home, opens my eyes, brings me to the world, creates directions, and literally changes my life.

My major, right now, is in Banking and Finance, but I used to think I would never work for a bank, and would not be good at something concerning banking or money. It came to me randomly, since my biggest failure. But that was the story of yesterday. Today, I am with Banking and Finance. Tomorrow, I may be a bank manager – who knows?

Before discussing my goals, I will talk about my mistake. I used to be one of the top students in my high school. I did very well in every activity, from studying to self-improving or community services. No one could imagine I would be left out of the main competition for a seat in one of the public universities. But that was the true as I overestimated myself which allowed me not to practice before the exam. I was so frustrated, both mentally and physically. I did not care which major I wanted, who I was, what was happening, who I would be in the future; I was right there, surrounded by the collapsing world, but time still went by without me. My parents finally decided for me - they chose Banking and Finance department, with the hope that their daughter could have a good working environment for a stable life. Somebody said: “When it obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps”. I said nothing at all, and started my university life with one of the hot majors: Banking and Finance. I have been telling myself over and over that I would be a successful banker. Since then, I have begun to learn how to love my future career, a banker.

There is a saying in Vietnam that, “You need to stand up right from the place you have tumbled down”. Yes, I did. I am trying my best to do well in university. I’m starting to reinforce myself by knowledge, both soft and hard skills. I try to read more and more newspapers, magazines regarding money, finance, and bank systems.

Even if thinking and saying our goals are always easier than really implementing them, I still keep trusting myself “Quynh – you can do it”. I try to study English and concentrate a hundred percent on studying. I am always finishing homework sooner than other students. If not, my grades will suffer. Finally, luck smiled upon me when I was chosen to be an exchange student for a semester in the USA. For others, it may not be a big deal. To me, it is. Not every student in Vietnam can come to study in the US, even if they have strong financial means. It depends on a lot of complicated factors. But I made it. I was there in the States – the land of milk and honey – trying to do a good job, with a strong belief that my English and other skills would be better after the journey.

During my time in the US, I tried my best to take that worthy opportunity to enrich my skills. The most important mission was enriching my English, at least, it must be as strong as other international students. In addition, clubs were a part of my life. I was in As – U – Go club, where we talked about international and American cultures. Moreover, I was a volunteer for the Blue Ridge Parkway Corporation. I had my first volunteer work on Saturday 23th of January, 2013. Ten more friends and I was maintaining the trails by cleaning it and cutting off any decayed or extra branches that we saw. We were also the partners of people go hiking. Apparently, these activities gave me more chances not only to speak English, but also to practice and build others skills.

In regards to my student life in the USA, at first, I had some trouble with registration and preparation for my courses, but I was happy and satisfied with my schedule then. English is not my first language, so I needed to choose classes that are not too hard for me to catch up with other students. Besides, those classes must be properly matched up with my study plan at my home university in order to transfer my scores back. I did add some classes, and then changed all of them. I thought, “How could I do well here?” But then, I started to get used to studying here. I am doing quite well on my quizzes. I am happy to spend the whole night in the library studying my chapters, doing my homework. I got a place in the Dean’s list for getting a GPA of 3.85 over 4.0. I would not say I was proud of myself, but I tried really hard for it, so I deserved it.

One of the most impressing thing in American, which relates to culture is that surprise parties. I got two surprise parties while I was there, that I definitely use as good stories to tell my children and grandchildren. The first one is in February 2013, my host family and friends gave me such a surprise. My host mommy, Teri, decorated our study lounge with balloons and stuff; some friends cooked their own countries’ food. We really had fun with German’s, Japanese’s, Chinese’s, and Vietnamese’s food. They made my day! The first time I had a birthday party far away from home would be the best ever. And the second one was the “goodbye party” that “fathers”, “mothers”, “brothers”, and “sisters” at Perkinsvill Baptist Church gave me! They arranged everything that I was crying in happiness when seeing everybody were jumping out, turning on the light, while wearing same shirts with my name on it: “ Quynh Nguyen – International Student of the Year”. It feels so good when you know there is a home to get back. I'm blessed to have two: one in Danang, Vietnam; and the other is North Carolina, USA.

In the first week of orientation, they were talking about the culture shock which had four stages. After the “honey – moon” weeks in a new land, enjoying new things coming, is the series of black days you are frustrated, asking yourself what are you doing, and why you are there and really want to come back home. But I was not. Was I still in the “honey – moon” weeks? Or I loved that place and felt like home? Naturally says, no place like home, I guess because there were so many good people there that healed my homesick quickly. The feeling of freedom let me do whatever I want. I tried anything which was new to me, that my friends told me: “You are a trooper” I felt guilty to say I did not miss home so bad, the only things I miss is my mom’s dishes. That was also one of the reasons why I wanted to cook Vietnamese food for my friends there.

It was just like a dream to think about the States until you are really there, with Americans around you. So if you are a Duy Tan university’s student, you must be happy because of your big chance to study in the US. You would feel proud to be involved in DTU as I do right now.

My own story leads me to this lyric: “Where there is a desire, there is gonna be a flame/ Where there is a flame, someone’s bound to get burned/ But just because it’s burned, doesn’t mean you gonna die/ You gotta get up and try and try and try” (Pink, Try, 4). Apparently, the only way to come over difficulties, to reach the top of success is getting a right plan for the right goal, keeping our faithfulness on trying. This saying is always encouraging me to put another step in front: “You may not be there yet, but you are closer than you was yesterday!” (Tatiana Navalona). Let’s smile and everything will be fine!

Nguyễn Thị Hương Quỳnh - K17 PSU