“Growing up in Cypress, Texas, I wasn’t really surrounded by many Vietnamese people. 

Coming to Bellaire, I really wanted to meet and connect with people who looked like me and shared my heritage. In ninth grade, I joined the newly revived Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) and learned more about my culture while surrounding myself with other Vietnamese students.

I made friends who I consider some of my closest today, and through them, I was introduced to the nonprofit organization Sunflower Mission during my freshman year. The organization aims to provide educational opportunities to underprivileged children in Vietnam through building schools and providing scholarships for students to come to America.

I went to Sunflower’s Work Camp the summer after my freshman year, and this trip was what really got me involved. I was inspired by their mission to provide kids with adequate education, and visiting rural areas of Vietnam firsthand showed me the disparities and struggles they face every day.

During camp, all volunteers went around the ‘neighborhood,’ which was basically a forest with a river and dirt road, to give gifts and household supplies to each house. We went around and gave out instant ramen and canned goods. It was really disheartening to see that families are living in shacks without air conditioning, flooring, windows and, at times, running water.

I remember meeting one of the children, Duc Anh, who lived in one of the houses and would eventually go to the school. Due to our language barrier, it was really hard to communicate, but we were able to communicate between thumbs up, thumbs down, hand hearts and peace signs. 

Every day, he would come by, eat with us and play on the playground. What we didn’t know was that he was battling kidney disease and kidney failure. He lived with his grandma because his mom went to Saigon to find better jobs to cover his medical expenses.

Despite all this, he always came to us with a smile. You couldn’t see what he was battling within. Seeing him come to the school to check up on us was very touching and ultimately gave me a purpose, telling me why I was here: to meet and help people whose fate was different than mine.

Come spring semester of sophomore year, I became the secretary for VSA and a student board member of Sunflower. Sunflower launched its first annual Strides for Schools Runathon to raise money for the 2024 Work Camp come April, and I was planning to attend this Work Camp. To gain more participation and money for Sunflower’s building fund, I pitched this fundraiser service project to my other officers, and VSA joined as a team in the runathon. 

We partnered with the Bellaire Running Club to expand our team event more. VSA and Running Club ran over 300 miles combined and raised over $8,000 to buy textbooks for students in Vietnam.

At Work Camp, I was on library book-sorting duty, and it felt so rewarding to put them on the shelves, knowing that without VSA and Running Club’s participation, we would not have this library. 

Entering high school, I really wanted to make an impact in any way. Yet, I felt sort of lost in how I wanted to deal with the internal conflict I felt about being a Vietnamese American. Still, now as a senior, having many Vietnamese friends who share likes, dislikes and passions that are similar to mine, I am eternally grateful to Sunflower Mission and VSA and the opportunities I have gained to go to Vietnam, connect with my culture and really find a purpose in all that I do.”