Toan Nguyen ’10 spent his summer researching the evolution of social relations between the Vietnamese and the Americans since the Vietnam War. Last spring, Nguyen received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, which recognizes and encourages service toward social change offered in the spirit of Dr. King. Nguyen, who is Vietnamese, said he focused his research on “the lives of Vietnamese-Americans today.” He plans to finish his research this fall and present his findings in winter term. Nguyen said that the Vietnamese “were not very well received” in America because “they were the children of the enemies.” When the Vietnamese fled to the United States after the Vietnam War, they brought their traditions and culture with them. Some Vietnamese-American students find it hard to adapt to the American lifestyle and culture, mainly because of the differences in tradition, Nguyen said. “[Vietnam] is much more traditional,” he said. Nguyen’s said he drew his inspiration for the project from Vietnam’s history. He started part of his research when he was in Vietnam but some necessary resources were not available in Vietnam, a fact that forced Nguyen to do research when he arrived in America. Nguyen attributed the depth of his research to the availability of resources at Andover. “[Andover] provided an opportunity to that I would not have been able to access otherwise,” he said. Nguyen will buy two films, one fiction and one non-fiction, that the library does not have. Once he finishes his research, Nguyen plans to donate the books to the library.
