Who You Are Matters Assignment

 

Describe where you come from

I was born and raised in Hanoi, Vietnam–the world capital of mopeds, cafes, and street vendors.

For me, nothing compares to slurping up a bowl of Phở streetside on a sketchy plastic stool back home.

• Image of downtown Hanoi

Tell me where you're going

Since my accident, my only wish has been to stand and walk again as soon as possible. I long to go to class on my skateboard rather than spending $8 for the 2-minute Lyft ride.

• Image of me in a wheelchair at the airport (unpleased that I can’t walk)

Tell me how you plan to get there

For the coming weeks, I will spend every day completing a host of physical rehabilitation exercises to restrengthen my muscles and bones. But the most strenuous part of the recovery will be to remain patient and not push myself too much that I might injure my bone.

How are you LIKE your parents

When I used to sleep with my parents, their snoring and sleeptalking annoyed me to no end. No matter how many pillows I used to cover my ears, those awful noises still made it through. But to my horror, in my first year of university, my roommate told me I also regularly snored and sleeptalked. I felt so sorry for my roommate.

How are you UNLIKE your parents

My parents were born and raised in a rural village, and until their late teens, they never ventured more than ten miles away from there. Yet, by my late teens, I was attending university nearly 8,000 miles away from home, speaking a different language than my mother tongue, and making friends with those from all around the world.

• Image of my family

Have you developed your own expectations for yourself, or if you were honest, would you say you're operating under someone else's expectations?

I’m not sure. When I was young, I obediently operated according to my parents’ expectations of me. But since university, even though my parents have stopped enforcing their expectations on me, I still have not changed how I do or see things. I guess that over time, I adopted my parents’ expectations as my own.

Who, other than a relative, serves as a model for you of someone who lives life with great passion and personal responsibility?

Stephen Hawking serves as a role model to me. Despite being paralyzed and wheelchair-ridden for much of his life, he didn’t let his condition prevent him from becoming one of the most influential scientists of our time. As someone who dreamt about becoming an astronaut as a kid, he inspired me to commit myself to my studies and aspire to become just as successful as him.

• Image of Stephen Hawking

Connecting with the ANIMAL WORLD: What wild animal do you feel a special connection with, and why?

When I was in elementary school, the TV channel Cartoon Network screened episodes of the show Phineas and Ferb every day at 4:00 p.m. In every episode, the two main characters’ pet platypus, Perry, sneaks away to fulfill his duties as a secret agent for O.W.C.A. and foils the plans of evil scientist Doofenshmirtz. Because Perry was my favorite character, the platypus has been my favorite animal since.

• Image of a platypus and Perry the Platypus

Connecting with the NATURE KINGDOMS: Describe a significant childhood encounter with a tree or plant.

There has always been a large longan tree in the corner of my grandparents’ house. Whenever I visited them, I would spend all afternoon climbing the tree and swinging from its branches–to my grandparents' horror and my parents' enjoyment. It remains there even now and reminds me of the blissful innocence I had as a kid.

Sun Sagittarius

Moon Pisces

Rising Gemini