Huong Dao is a 2010 alumna mentor who teaches third grade at Tamura Elementary School in the Fountain Valley School District. Huong shares her incredible story about fleeing Vietnam in the 70s to immigrate to the US — and along the way—being nudged into teaching by her colleagues and friends.
What led you to immigrate to the United States?
After April 30, 1975, life became very difficult for my family because my father was a former officer of the South Vietnamese Army. The government controlled everything from food to medicines. In addition, my two brothers could not even go to school. So when the government confiscated our family’s properties, we decided to escape the country by boat the first time in 1978.
We boarded a boat and sailed for three days and two nights. I remember being placed on the bottom floor of the ship. I couldn’t even stand with my two feet on the floor. There wasn’t enough air to breath and I became very sick. The situation on the boat was the worst that I had been through. One of the men told my dad that the boat was supposed to carry only 80 people. After the third day out at sea, when we were caught by the Vietnamese authorities, we learned that there were over 370 of us. In retrospect, it was probably a blessing because if they hadn’t caught us, we would have probably died at sea. We were put in jail for two months over Christmas and Lunar New Year. However, there were too many people in prison, so they released my mom and dad and my two youngest sisters. The remaining four of us had to stay in prison. I have definitely learned not to take for granted whatever I have, including air to breathe.
What I remember most is that there were many people who were on the same boat with us, who were well off, educated, and had all kinds of food to eat. However, no one shared anything with my sister and me. My parents had to find money to bribe the authorities to release us; therefore, they could not visit and bring us food like the other families. I was nearsighted, so the prison authorities made me work on the land, but my younger sister had to work in the swamp the whole day. When she finished, she would come back very hungry because her work was much harder than mine. I usually just gave her my food, so the next day she would have enough energy to work. There was one girl in the prison who scared everyone. She had been imprisoned for killing her husband because he was cheating on her. She was the one that everyone in the prison wanted to stay away from. She was what we thought of as the “mean” one. But I remember one day…. when I was sitting there looking out through the bars of the prison to avoid looking at all the food that other people were eating, the “mean” girl came up to me and pushed a bowl of rice through the bars into my hands and commanded, “I know you’re hungry. Eat it.” I was so hungry and thankful that tears streamed down my face when I took the rice and ate. I know that I will never forget that bowl of rice. Out of all the educated and rich people in that prison, only this uneducated, scary, and poor girl had compassion and helped me. It was definitely the second lesson that I learned – Do not judge the book by the cover! Anyone could be capable of showing compassion!
After we were released from jail, we tried to escape Vietnam a few more times unsuccessfully. Finally, one of my brothers was able to escape in 1980. Thanks to him and the program sponsored by the US for former officers from South Vietnam, we were able to leave in 1986 to a refugee camp in the Philippines. We stayed there for six months before coming to America.
How did you get involved in teaching?
In Vietnam, I had learned English as a second language at the Vietnamese American Association. I knew enough English to legally work in the United States, but I still had trouble understanding some people. I remember getting a job as secretary at San Jose Unified School District a month after my arrival to the US while going to college at night. The one thing I was scared of the most was the phone. It was a nightmare for me for many months because I could not understand what people said over the phone until I got used to it.
About 10 months later, a secretary position became available at Oak Grove School District, and I ended up getting the job in their bilingual office. While I was working there, I continued to go to school at night. I remember taking 18 units per semester and working full time because I wanted to graduate in four years. When I was a senior at San Jose State University, Norma Martinez, my director of the bilingual office at Oak Grove, encouraged me to become a bilingual teacher.
I didn’t know anything about the American education system. However, out of respect for her, I filled-out the CBEST application, sent it in, took the test, and somehow passed. Afterwards, Norma set me up for an interview. I drew on my experience as an Explorer leader of the Boy Scouts of America to answer the questions. I totally surprised the director of Human Resources when I shared with him that I was able to answer many questions thanks to the Woodbadge Training organized by the BSA that I attended in 1988. I am still an active leader of the Girl Scouts, and troop committee chair with the Boy Scouts of America. As for teaching, I have to give Norma all the credit. I still owe her to this day for encouraging me to apply. Since my major was French, I had to take many tests in order to become a teacher. I was hired as a third grade teacher with an Emergency Credential when I graduated from San Jose State University in 1992. Without her help and guidance, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
What was your first year of teaching like?
My first year of teaching was awful, yet at the end of that first year, I fell in love with teaching. At first, I constantly felt guilty because I had no clue about what I was doing. I told my principal twice that I should quit because I did not deserve to receive the salary. My whole class might not learn anything that year. However, with the help of other 3rd grade teachers and my amazing principal, I survived my first year and started to love what I was doing. Those teachers took me under their wings and helped me plan my lessons. They mentored me and helped me grow as a teacher. My principal, on the other hand, would give me constructive criticism to help me grow. She put positive notes in my mailbox to encourage me when I tried something new. By the end of the first year, I really loved my job. I realized that year that I could not be the teacher I wanted to be yet, but I could still be the teacher that my students needed me to be. I began to hone in on meeting my students’ needs. I was seeing so much more going on in my students’ understanding after that first year.
Based on your incredible journey from immigrating here and growing as a teacher, do you have any new thoughts or perspectives on life and education?
I think that everyone in America should appreciate the freedoms and everything that we have, because not every country has the same freedoms and things that we have here. American citizens should not take for granted what they have. Coming to America is a blessing to my family, and we all had to work hard to get where we are now. We must be grateful for everything that we have here in the US. The last few years, I have noticed that our younger generations feel that they are entitled to things that they have not earned.
I think that my students should learn appreciation and focus on making good decisions for themselves. I have only three basic class rules: show respect, solve problems, and make good decisions. I’m guiding my students to solve the problems themselves, to know where to find resources and how to use them. Respect and integrity are also very important to me. If I see a pencil on the floor, I’ll tell my students that there are children in other countries whose Christmas wishes are to have pencils. I share with them true stories to help them appreciate more what they have now.
I’ve noticed that educational support, whether it is for teachers or students, is often centered around improving people or students who are at risk, which is great, but there are a greater number of people who never get additional support to improve themselves. Therefore, Cotsen really amazes me. Their program is different. They choose teachers who are passionate about teaching and willing to learn more and improve themselves. They definitely pick the best and help them become better. It’s an honor to be a part of this coalition of teachers who are willing to make changes in their teaching to better meet their students’ needs.
For my teaching journey, it is clear that my teaching experiences before and after Cotsen are completely different. The “after Cotsen” journey is incredible. I will not be able to write all of my experiences in this section since I need many pages to write about this journey with Cotsen. According to Robert Baden Powel, the founder of the scouting movement, “The secret of sound education is to get each pupil to learn for himself, instead of instructing him by driving knowledge into him on a stereotyped system.” Cotsen has provided me opportunities and tools to do just that.
My life is not perfect, but I don’t regret any moments of it. The bad and the good ones all happened to me for a reason and helped me get to where I am now. I’ve learned to embrace both because my father always says that it’s important to make the best of what I have, and I believe that I have more than enough.
The Cotsen Spotlight highlights the stories of alumni and current members of the ART of TEACHING fellowship. If you know of anyone who has a story to share, please email us at info@cotsen.org and we will consider them for the next Cotsen Spotlight. Thank you!