Anh Do went to high school in the United States.   She enjoyed her experience so much while she was here that she decided to apply to a few universities and was accepted to the University of Maine. I’m from Vietnam and I don’t really know a lot about colleges in the U-S.  when I applied to college and I got letters from several schools and I got a full tuition scholarship to Univ. of Maine so I decided to go here.”

This is Anh sophomore year at the university.  She is majoring in Business Administration with a double concentration in Accounting and Finance.  This semester she is getting more involved in her coursework. However, her first year was personally more challenging.  “My biggest challenge is to adapt to the new culture, new environment when I got to high school and then once again when I got to college so it has been a very big challenge just to get in and then feel comfortable and then be able to do what I feel like doing and at this point I am happy about what I got,” she says. 

“After three years in the U-S I made a lot of friends and I feel that I have grown up a lot and personally I have been much more confident in my communication skills just dealing with people has improved a lot and I have been active in school I am doing well in class and outside of class I am involved in activities and organizations.  Also, I am a residence assistant right now so it has been very busy, but at the same time very rewarding.”

One thing Anh takes seriously is her opportunity to receive an education and she tells us why.  “I think education is very important because without good education I wouldn’t have enough knowledge and enough judgment to make rational decisions later on in life and an education also gives me the knowledge and will make me capable and viable to be able to do my job later on,” she says. 

[And] “I think a good quality education makes the person learn new things, new knowledge and have a better understanding of himself and would be ready to get out in the real world and know how to behave and deal with different situations once he gets out done with the education system.”

However, there are a few things Anh says she likes about the university and when it comes to food here in America it definitely isn't like the food back home.  “What I like here I think the college life the people are really friendly and all the faculty and stuff are willing to help and are close to the students.  I make a lot of friends and enjoy all the activities on campus…it has been really a lot of fun,” she says. 

The food is the big difference.  Back home we eat a lot of vegetables and rice and not that much meat compared to here.  “The food here is a serving size and way bigger than back home so my first year I never finished my meal here. Also, the food here is mainly fried food or grill food and high calories,” she added.  “And the cooking style is a lot different too.”

Anh Do has two more years before she graduates.  Then, “My plan is to eventually I want go back to Vietnam and then have my own business and do something that helps my own country.  Right now Vietnam is developing country and we are trying to recover from war so I think it will help a lot to have highly educated people in my country and I want to have my own business and have an independent life.”