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Lost in Translation: My Year in Vietnam and the English I Left Behind
Submitted by Steven Pham It was the spring of my third-grade year when my world shifted dramatically. My family decided to spend nearly a year in Vietnam, a choice that felt both exhilarating and daunting. Little did I know, this journey would lead me to a profound moment of change in my life. In Vietnam, everything was vibrant and new—the bustling streets filled with the sound of laughter and the fragrant aroma of street food. Surrounded by my family, I quickly became immersed in Vietnamese. With everyone speaking the language, I found myself picking it up effortlessly. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, while my English sat neglected…
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A Film That Will Make You Reminisce on Your Past and Future
Today I finally watched a film that I had been meaning to watch months back. Past Lives has been on my watch list for a long time, not solely due to its intriguing Korean female perspective or the praised cinematography, but primarily because of the overwhelming relatability that I've heard it possesses to many peoples’ own life experiences. They say you have to watch films at different stages of your life and you will have a different perspective on it. I firmly believe in this statement as I feel that watching this film taught me so many things regarding what I have experienced this past year.
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Moving On
Tune in to our December's podcast with Julia Sayco as she speak about moving on- in relationships, career paths, and changes! This impactful and emotional podcast can help you guide in your own personal struggles.
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The Intersection of Technology and Tradition
One of my uncles loves using shopping apps to buy cheap but cool items. There’s something new in their house almost every time we come over for dinner. He loves to talk about the items too, how functional they are and what a steal they were, only a couple dollars.
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Food That Remind Me of Home
Food is really important to me in my household, and after being in college the past couple of years, it really made me realize how much I miss my family, but whenever I feel this way there are some foods that bring me back.
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Exploring Myself: Culture and Gender
Poem by Eric Aquino.
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Unlearning Colorism
I think every Filipino girl has their fair share of horror stories about Titas who were much too grown and much too busy to have the time to be commenting on the appearance of girls who aren’t even theirs. To no fault but their own toxic upbringing, they judged anything and everything that caught their attention. Weight gain, weight loss, academics—the list goes on and on. However, there was one thing in particular that they would point out about without fail. Even more outside of my control than my fluctuating weight and static height—it was my skin color. Brown and so unlike the porcelain white skin that they believed to…
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A Piece of Self-Discovery in Spain
Understanding your true self takes time; for me, it took years. It was the vagueness of it all that sparked my anxiety: having no direction in life and feeling lost within the constraints of my own mind. You would think that even with large academic and long-term goals, I would feel more satisfied in fulfilling them with “ease,” but I continued to struggle with the idea of commitment and the thought that my dreams would somehow turn into reality.
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A Mother-Daughter’s Unbreakable Bond
For many, a mother is a role model, best friend, and pillar of strength for her daughter. A mother comforts her daughter during moments of weakness. A mother gives advice to her daughter on how to dress. A mother warns her daughter about boys. A mother, most importantly, loves her daughter unconditionally, as they emotionally understand their daughter the best. It is widely believed that the relationship between mothers and daughters is the strongest of all parent-child bonds, and although I disagreed with this belief for a long time, I now understand the truth.
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Breaking the Pattern: Intergenerational Trauma
In many Asian cultures, mental health is swept under the rug. It is not an excuse to not be okay as it is seen as a sign of weakness. Those who are similar in age to my parents strongly believe this as they were taught to do so by their mothers and fathers. Unfortunately, this is a dilemma that many younger generations and first generation kids continue to experience.
