Minh

The semester is in full swing, and I am just getting used to this full-time faculty thing. For those of you that do not know, I was offered a full-time assistant professor position at the college I taught for last year. I am teaching 6 sections of Public Speaking (yes, that is LOTS of speeches to sit through) and for the first time in my life as a non-student I have full medical, dental and vision care. I already feel healthier, I haven't even been to the doctor yet. I am still keeping shifts at the restaurant, because, why not really? SO there will still be PLENTY of server stories. But today I have a tale of a different kind:

I love teaching. More than I ever thought I would. I especially love the students at this school. I teach in a VERY urban environment. I currently have 150 students, and including me, there are four Caucasians. Very few speak English as a first language, and some were born here in the US, but English was never spoken in their home. By the time they get to my class, ideally they have passed Level 5 ESL. Ideally.

Early in the semester, it is important that I get them in front of the class every week leading up to their first speeches, so they can get used to standing in front of people and hearing their voices in the room. Yesterday I had them tell a fun or interesting story from their past, encouraging them to be animated (I am an actress after all...). Many told of falling off bikes and getting stitches, getting caught drinking by their parents, moving to the United States, etc. Then Minh spoke.

Minh said his age at 48 years old. He looks much older, but I have found in this population that years are not necessarily kind, such a far cry from the city just heartbeats away. Minh is short in stature and rather round. And jolly. As he began speaking it took a second to get used to his dialect, and his occasional nervous laughter as he told this story:

Many years ago, when he was just a student in his native South Vietnam, he went to a coffee shop to read and sip his morning coffee. As he was doing the crossword (yes, that is what he said) two guards came up to him and asked to see his identification card. He had inadvertently left his house without his ID. He explained to the guards (his words) that he did not have his ID with him. They threw him to the ground and threatened to take him away if he did not show his card. He pleaded with them to let him run to his house and get it, but they would not. They arrested him on the spot for failure to show ID and he was immediately sent away to EIGHT years of hard labor. His family never knew what happened to him. He had no contact with them. After eight years he was released, moved to the States, got married and now 12 years later is starting college as a nursing student. He laughed, looked at the class, and said "Isn't that crazy?"

I sat there, speechless, and thought about just the other day when I was complaining to a friend how I had never been to Disney world.