(28-08-2007)
by Nguyen Minh Huyen
Hue — Each had a story to tell.Whether it was running a marathon; the excitement of Commencement Day or the impact that studying in the United States has had on their lives and work, participants at a meeting of former Fulbright scholars in Hue last Saturday all acknowledged the programme’s success since its introduction to Viet Nam.
And all agreed: The programme has changed them all.
It has enabled them to both acquire knowledge and to develop friendships with people from different races, nationalities and cultures.
Many have been successful since their return to Viet Nam with perhaps the most notable being Deputy Prime Minister and Education and Training Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, who was granted a Fulbright scholarship in 1993.
Nhan, who could not attend the meeting held to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the programme’s introduction to Viet Nam, told its participants by letter that the programme had served as a vital diplomatic, academic and professional link between Viet Nam and the United States.
The Hue meeting was attended by more than 100 Fulbright alumni who shared their experiences; networked and discussed the programme’s future.
The Fulbright programme has spread to more than 150 countries to become a major vehicle for academic and cultural exchange since it was founded by Senator William J. Fulbright in 1945.
Its premier success has been the boosting of mutual understanding between the American people and the people of the world.
The programme began in Viet Nam in 1992, before diplomatic relations between Ha Noi and Washington were established.
Since then, more than 400 Vietnamese have been sent to the US for graduate studies and more than 200 American students and scholars have visited Viet Nam to teach and research.
Speaking at the ceremony, newly-arrived US Ambassador Michael Michalak said that his goal was to double the number of students sent from Viet Nam to the US, and this would directly support Viet Nam’s goal of having 20,000 new doctoral graduates by 2020.
The programme’s country director Tran Xuan Thao said more funds were being sought from the Viet Nam Government, universities, organisations, and businesses so that more scholarships could be awarded each year.
Alumni at the anniversary meeting ranged from some of the first Vietnamese sent to the US as Fulbright scholars in 1992 to this year’s graduates.
Truong Nu Minh Ngoc, who has just graduated with a Master’s degree in business from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, wanted to share the experience of finishing two half-marathons in the US.
"My cousin promised to take me to the Grand Canyon National Park if I ran the half-marathon with him," Ngoc said.
So she decided to enter the 13-mile (about 20km) run in Phoenix, Arizona, last January.
"I’m not very sportive, so I had to prepare," she said. "I ran everywhere I could. All around the campus and from my home to the grocery store. I tried to do two to three hours a week."
Ngoc finished in 3 hours 3 minutes. The winning time was 1 hour 15 minutes.
"I felt so good that I believed that I could do anything that I set as my goal," she said. Later Ngoc ran in and completed another half-marathon in Nashville, Tennessee.
Khuong Viet Thang, who has just finished a Master’s degree in development economics at Harvard University, was also pleased with his effort but in a different way.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates attended his school’s Commencement Day.
"I felt great when I got my degree because as you may all know Bill Gates was a drop-out from Harvard," Thang quipped.
The programme had a great impact on Vietnamese American Benny Tran’s personal, cultural and professional life.
Born and raised in the US, Benny did not speak much of his parents’ mother tongue and did not understand how they thought.
But after a one-year research programme in Viet Nam, Benny returned home and found his relations with his parents had changed dramatically because they could now communicate beyond their previous: "Go dump the trash" conversation.
The prestigious Fulbright programme also added to Benny Tran’s Curriculum Vitae and he now works for the Clinton Foundation in Viet Nam. — VNS
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