USD-Magazine-Summer-2023

“I had the choice to decorate everything myself. I could get creative,” Duong recalls. “I felt as though, for the first time, I was in control of my own life.” It was as if her life was transformed from black-and white to full color. Duong was grateful to take control and has made the most of her life ever since. As a graduate student at USD, Duong has spent two summers serving as a college seminar instructor for the USD TRiO Upward Bound program, which is geared toward promoting academic achievement among high school students, establishing not only a path toward college, but also representing low-income and first-generation students who are succeeding in higher education. In her role, Duong has taught 50 high school students who identify as low-income or first-generation students. She facilitated workshops and cultural events to build community among the students and developed her lesson plans and materials to review everything from college admissions, financial aid and scholarships to college culture and even imposter syndrome, common among students who feel as though they don’t belong or deserve to be in college. In the spring, she taught an undergraduate emerging

unaccompanied minor — that she truly understood just how different her life was. Duong says, as a young girl, her uncle bought her a pink-and-purple Huffy bicycle, complete with decals of her favorite Disney princesses and colorful metallic tassels that would flutter from the handlebars as she rode against the wind. Her uncle took her and her cousin camping and to the roller rink. “I’m so grateful to my uncle for helping to normalize my life and for giving me great memories,” Duong says, while gliding on her purple roller blades. “To this day, I still love roller skating. I feel so safe, so relaxed, so free.” At first, Duong was reluctant, scared even, to go to college, to move away from her grandmother. But an AP teacher convinced her that it’s an important four years and encouraged her to live life for herself. So she applied to nearby SDSU. It wasn’t until she was an undergraduate student there that, for the first time in her life, Duong had her own bed, her own closet, her own desk, her own dresser drawers. Her side of the wall was covered with photos she printed at Walmart or took with a Polaroid camera. Her bed linens were coral pink with small, white flowers — which she bought herself using money from her financial aid disbursement. A teddy bear sat at the head of her bed.

leaders course through SOLES — touching on topics such as values, identities, social justice, privilege and how to look at life as a Changemaker and find ways, big and small, to help humanity. This summer, Duong plans to study abroad — in Spain and in London — learning about their K–12 educational systems. As a child, Duong spent a long time feeling helpless, feeling like she had no one looking after her.

She was unattended, unprotected. Abandoned. Alone. That was then. And this is now. “No child, no young person, should have to worry about whether their mom will come home at the end of the day or when they’ll eat next, or whether their mom or their grandma will be blasting music in a drunken rage,” Duong says. “They should be worried about playtime and whether they can occasionally get away with eating candy before dinner.” Sometimes Duong still can’t believe how far she’s come. “For so long I was so busy surviving — being anxious, being angry — that I forgot to set goals for my future,” Duong says. “But now, I am excited to look back and to know that I did it. Someday, I look forward to earning my PhD, being Dr. Duong, and making a difference to other students like me.”

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