For Tam Vo, a move to America in search of better education

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Mikaela Mosley

North Penn sophomore Tam Vo has been enjoying her time at North Penn since moving to the area this year.

Mikaela Mosley, Staff Writer

TOWAMENCIN – It would be easy to assume that sophomore Tam Vo was born in the United States judging by her mastery of the English language. There is barely a hint that she has lived in three different locations throughout her school years.

Throughout her life, Vo has encountered many obstacles, but she has always managed to make the best of her situations.

Vo was born in Southern Vietnam where she lived until she was ten years old. Her family then moved to America with hopes of receiving a better education for her and her older brothers. To date, she has lived in two American states, Texas and Pennsylvania.

Currently, the sophomore adds to the rich diversity at North Penn High School.

“When I moved here I left all my best friends and all of what I used to have and the environment that I was used to…and came to a foreign environment and new people and a language that I didn’t know. It was challenging, but now that I think about it…I guess it’s doable,” said Vo.

English is said to be one of the hardest languages to learn and speak, but Vo and her older siblings, already fluent in Vietnamese, have managed to master it.

At home, she speaks Vietnamese because it is her first language and her family is not fluent in English, but at school she manages to speak perfect English. In Vietnam, Vo only spoke Vietnamese. It was not until three months before she moved to America that she attended a Vietnamese school that taught English.

“I learned basically the phrase ‘How are you?’ and ‘I’m fine, thank you.’ that’s all I remember,” reflected Vo.

School in Vietnam was drastically different from school in America. From first grade to third grade students went to school from six a.m. to about five in the afternoon. Around lunchtime, twelve ‘o’ clock noon, lunch would be served followed by a midday nap. In fourth grade schoolchildren started going to school from twelve noon to five in the afternoon. At this age there were no breaks for lunch.

“Here [at North Penn] we have different classes and we move to different teachers. In Vietnam it’s not like that. The teachers moved, we didn’t move. We sat in the same classroom with the same people and the teachers just moved and we just got our notebooks out and basically the desk that you were assigned to was like your home.”

The educational system in Vietnam is apparently more strict than school in America. The teaching styles and what is recognized as discipline are obviously different as well.

“It was true that if you didn’t complete your homework the teachers actually hit you. They’d hit you with a ruler on the hands. It’s not as cruel as it sounds; it was actually effective because people actually got their work done after they got hit. They didn’t hit us for any reason, they hit us for a reason and they warned us about it. So I guess they have a stricter system but it’s effective.”

In relation to the teaching styles, Vo explained that in Vietnam they don’t really explain why they teach something, whereas in America, they explain it if you don’t understand.

In Houston, Vo attended a large high school but not as large as North Penn. Vo, unprepared to attend such a big school, struggled to find her way through the pods of North Penn, but she is adjusting to the big school life just like every other sophomore.

“A part of it is… I guess survival instincts because if you get thrown in something foreign and you don’t know about it you just have to adjust to some level of comfort in your comfort zone. When I first started learning here I didn’t really understand what was going on so I just looked around at everyone and saw what they were doing and I copied them. If there’s a word I don’t know, I don’t say it, I describe it in a longer way. So you know it’s kind of like copy and paste.”

North Penn students are slowly becoming Vo’s newest family members.

“In Vietnam my best friend and I were really close because we were together for four years straight. I would say that I prefer when I was in Vietnam because we were bonded together really tightly. But the schools in North Penn and Texas are almost the same so I would say that they are equivalent to each other.”

Though Vo is adapting and enjoying her sophomore year at North Penn High school, she also admitted that she misses Vietnam sometimes.

“The people that were around you would be someone that you got to know and eventually they are really close with you. The people that were in your class would probably end up in your second grade…and third grade…and fourth grade… so you don’t really feel uncomfortable since you already know them but here almost every class there are new people that you have to meet and it’s something that you have to adapt to and get to know it,” she said.