Rising to her own challenge: Le ready to make impact in the classroom

May 14, 2008

In eighth grade, Lien Le took control of her own education.

"I didn't really learn to speak English until I was 12," says Le, whose family moved to the United States from Vietnam in 1990, when she was five. "When I went to school, I was really quiet.

"In fifth grade, my teachers realized I was an ESL student. My English just wasn't there. But it wasn't until eighth grade that I decided I would only speak English. I started watching American TV, kids shows at first, like ‘Sesame Street.' And I began to talk more to English-speaking classmates.

"Somehow, the language just clicked with me. By the time I was a freshman in high school, I was in a regular English class."

Le, who graduated from Rowan University on Friday, May 16, with bachelor's degrees in elementary/early childhood education and writing arts, doesn't want immigrant children like herself to struggle. That's why she decided to become a teacher, a career she chose in sixth grade.

"I want to work in an environment where I can help non-English speakers learn English," says Le, 23, who also earned a certificate in teaching handicapped students from Rowan and plans to pursue another in ESL instruction.

"I don't want to see another child struggle as I did," she continues. "In the Asian culture, especially, we're very shy. I don't want any child to be left out."

One of 13 children, Le remembers the difficulties she faced growing up. Her parents, both disabled, don't speak English, she says.

"In the beginning, I had a difficult time trying to assimilate," says Le, who recently completed her student teaching at Pine Acres Early Childhood Center in Wenonah. "When I came to the U.S., I felt like I was a whole different person."

As her English improved, Le, who speaks only Vietnamese at home and only English in school, gained confidence and realized she could pursue her dream of going to college. The 2004 Atlantic City High School graduate asked a counselor for advice on choosing a college. Rowan stood out because of its strong College of Education, she says.

"I asked, ‘What's the best teaching school in New Jersey?' He told me Rowan. It's the only school I applied to," says Le.

Assisted by an Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) scholarship, Le enrolled at Rowan and attended the intensive, six-week summer EOF Pre-College Institute. The program prepares students for the challenges they'll face in college.

"It's like boot camp, but it's so, so wonderful," says Le, who will teach summer school in Atlantic County this summer. "I just loved it. It helped me know what college is."

Gifted in math-"I guess I'm a visual learner," she says-Le chose writing arts as a major to challenge herself, something she has done throughout her collegiate career. When she entered Rowan, she vowed to never let her GPA fall below 3.5. She graduated magna cum laude, with high honors, with a 3.7 GPA.

"I had to live up to that 3.5," she says. "I put that pressure on myself.

"I chose writing arts as a major because I'm not good at it," continues Le, who received a certificate for Outstanding Academic and Professional Achievement in Rowan's Early Childhood Education Program on May 12.

"To be better at something, you have to do it more and more. If I see a weakness, I want to try my best and do what I can to improve it."

Le is still feeling her way in the classroom-"I'm still lacking a vocabulary to simplify some things," she says-- but she's confident her teaching skills will continue to improve.

"Phonics is new to me, so, in some ways, I was learning as my students were learning," says Le, a first-generation college student who serves as vice president and webmaster of Rowan's Asian Cultural Association.

"I want to help my students explore what it is to discover and learn," she adds. "Doing so will give them independence."