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Immigrant Students in the U.S., Navigating Higher Education, & Knowledge Mobilization with Dr. Chi Nguyen
35 Plays1 year ago
In this episode of "Willing to Learn," host Dr. Ashley D. Domínguez sits down with Dr. Chi Nguyen, an interdisciplinary educational sociologist known for her critical stance on social justice and educational equity. Their dialogue spans the multifaceted realms of K-12 and higher education, as well as the transformative power of diversity within these settings. Dr. Nguyen also has a robust online persona; she commands a significant following on social media platforms under the moniker "Present Writer," with over 550K subscribers to her YouTube channel, and in addition she has a best-selling book in Vietnam on minimalist lifestyle. Dr. Nguyen shares her journey as an international student navigating the challenges of being a PhD student at UPenn and finding her way to becoming an assistant professor at the University of Arizona.
Resources Mentioned
- The Present Writer by Dr. Chi Nguyen
- The Professor Is Inby Karen Kelsky
- Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM:
@willingtolearnpodcast @ashleydominguezlopez
Contact: willingtolearnpodcast@gmail.com
Produced by: Jeffrey Anthony
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction and Guest Overview
00:00:06
Speaker
This is willing to
00:00:20
Speaker
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Willing to Learn, where we believe that when we know more, we can do more. I'm your host, Dr. Ashley Bominguez. Today's guest is Dr. Chi Nguyen, an assistant professor in the Educational Policy Studies and Practice. Dr. Chi Nguyen is an interdisciplinary educational sociologist. Her research focuses on educational equity, social justice, and diversity in K through 12 in higher education.
Dr. Nguyen's Research Focus and Educational Background
00:00:45
Speaker
Her PhD is in educational leadership and comparative and international education from the Pennsylvania State University. She's earned a master's degree in education, culture, and society from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree in international studies from Hanoi University.
00:01:01
Speaker
Having a social justice driven research agenda, Dr. Nguyen explores issues related to social justice leadership, both inside and outside the school, in particular school leaders and nonprofit community organizers, in order to develop new ways of thinking about the causes of, and solutions to, educational inequity in the United States and globally.
00:01:19
Speaker
Using ethnography, document analysis, quantitative inquiry, and mixed methods, her work investigates how educational opportunity has been distributed in different societies, racial and ethnic groups, income levels, and geographical locations. Comparing the practices of social justice leadership across cultural, national, and institutional settings, her research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of inequity.
00:01:43
Speaker
and the intervention made by educational leaders to close the achievement gap for underprivileged students.
Dr. Nguyen's Social Justice Journey
00:01:51
Speaker
If that wasn't enough, Dr. Chi Nguyen is also an influencer and a brand creator, an entrepreneur, and a business woman. She has an impressive following on social media, a blog, a podcast, all under the name of the present writer. She has over a million views on her content. Please welcome to the podcast, Dr. Chi Nguyen.
00:02:11
Speaker
Hi, and welcome to the podcast. Hi, Ashley. Hi, everyone. Thank you for having me. Yes, I'm so happy to have you. So let's just jump right in. If you could tell our listeners a little bit about who you are and what led you to this work.
00:02:27
Speaker
Hi, everyone. My name is Ching Nguyen. I'm currently a student professor in the Educational Leadership Program at the University of Arizona. I study social justice leadership in immigrant education and international students. So what led me to this work is my original desire to learn about social justice and equity. So I
00:02:50
Speaker
I had my bachelor degree in international studies, actually. I graduated from Hanoi. I graduated from Hanoi University. And with the international study degree, I had the opportunity to travel when I was very young. So when I was 19, I was invited to attend international conferences in Peru and in the US. Wow.
00:03:13
Speaker
And yeah, so in that role, I was a student diplomat. So that's what I taught that I wanted to do at that time.
Pivotal Experiences and Challenges
00:03:22
Speaker
However, especially when I was in the conference in Peru, in Lima, Peru,
00:03:28
Speaker
I was invited in many different beautiful places for conference, wonderful food, people dressed so nice and everyone's welcoming. However, at nighttime, because I was 19 and I really adventurous, so I took the cab to see the city and I see small houses on the mountain, people living completely different life than I experienced in the daytime. I started asking questions to my colleagues and folks who attended the conference and
00:03:57
Speaker
People from Peru explained to me that in Peru, there is a big gap between rich and poor, similar to Vietnam where it's originally formed. But they explained the way that make me feel really disconnect with the conference and disconnect with the idea of being a diplomat. And I also learned from the conference that I would not be a good diplomatic person, just the way I am at an introverted person and the way I reach out to people for
00:04:27
Speaker
deeper connection rather than diplomatic networking and so that event led to my decision to pivot my education to more sort of justice oriented and that led me to my work today.
00:04:43
Speaker
Nice. So take me back to fall 2013, because I know you were living in Vietnam at the time, and then you made this huge monumental decision to come to the US to continue your education at the University of Pennsylvania. So first, how are you feeling as an international student making this decision? And what made you actually make that big jump over to come over to the United States?
00:05:07
Speaker
Yeah, it actually related to the trip to Peru and the US. So during the trip to Peru and the US, I had the opportunity to visit some places in the big city. So Philadelphia is one of the city that I visited during that time. And I came to the campus, University of Pennsylvania campus, and instantly I feel a sense of connection, a sense of belonging,
00:05:34
Speaker
I just love the campus. I just feel that I would be wonderful if I have an opportunity to study there. But at the University of Pennsylvania or UPenn in Ivy Ridge, private university is really expensive. And I'm from a lower middle class family in Vietnam. There is no way my parents could
00:05:56
Speaker
give me the opportunity to go there with our money. And so I had to figure out a way to find scholarship. And so that led to multiple years of trying to finish up my bachelor degree in Vietnam, sharpen my English.
00:06:12
Speaker
learn how to write essays in English, learn how to apply for scholarship, especially in education. So back then, about 10 years ago, at that time, there were certain groups in Vietnam, people gather and do mentoring for
00:06:30
Speaker
study abroad application, but most of them at that time were STEM fields. And almost very few people in liberal arts and civil sciences and education is at that time only people want to go abroad to study English at the second language teaching program.
00:06:50
Speaker
not but not education in the sense of like educational leadership or educational policy or social justice casual oriented program like I wanted and so I had to figure out a lot on my own and so I went so
00:07:05
Speaker
At that time, I wanted to go to study abroad right away after graduate from my university. But I was not ready at that time financially. My English was not good. And then I feel I need more experience because I switched my field from international study to education. So I actually worked for over a year as a technical academic support for an international program
00:07:33
Speaker
Vietnam National Diversity, which is one of the biggest universities in Vietnam. So I learned a lot about education. And the more I learned, the more real I want to follow my passion. And so I actually quit my job, and I focused on applying for a year. And so I got a partial scholarship. And then I went to UPenn, and I worked and studied at the same time. And I learned a lot, and it's a really wonderful experience.
00:08:00
Speaker
Wow, thank you for sharing. So how did you now that you're a student, not all students decide to pursue education and want to finish and go get a PhD or interested in publishing and research. Where was that shift in you as a student where you're where you knew that was a direction you wanted to take?
00:08:18
Speaker
Wow. Yeah, that's very important question. So most people when they were doing the study in bachelor degree, a lot of them see, okay, so we'll go to master program or go to work right away. And maybe you in a master program, you wonder, okay, should I go to PhD or should I just with a master degree go to work? I encountered that decision before.
00:08:42
Speaker
And I remember there's one time that I actually, when I was in the grad, while I was in my undergrad program, actually because of the trip to Peru and the US, I have to skip some classes. And this is allowed at my university because I was invited from the university to travel. And so I didn't attend some of the classes. And then the professor at that time, the professor gave me the final paper. And because I didn't study for like a month,
00:09:12
Speaker
So I actually failed that test. And so the professor was told me that I can retake the test, but he allowed me to have maybe a few weeks to study the material. And I asked around with my friends and they said, Oh my God, the material was horrible. It was very difficult. The book is very hard to understand, even though with wonderful content of the class again.
00:09:37
Speaker
So the math class is a class with national relations. Okay. The class with national relations, yes. And the book is the name of the book also with national relations. I forgot the name of the author, but it is, it was very difficult text. It's not only the content was very dense, but also the writing style, also very traditional academic.
00:09:56
Speaker
style, so very difficult. So I remember I opened the book and I keep like
Discovering Passion and Academic Pursuits
00:10:01
Speaker
opening and close my eyes. I was so sleepy, I couldn't focus, but I couldn't afford to fail the test. Especially when I just came back from a big diplomatic trip, it would be terrible. And so I was trying to focus and the beginning I was
00:10:21
Speaker
reading the book with a dictionary. So every term that I didn't understand, I would look for a dictionary. And then there was no iPhone, there's no dictionary. No, so you had to have physical dictionary and some of them didn't have enough word, you know, it's challenging. And then I realized, okay, I couldn't do this no more because if I keep reading like this, it would take me forever. And so I start train myself to
00:10:50
Speaker
Okay, so I will read to understand the concepts. And when I understand the concept, I will keep moving. I will only look for words in dictionary if that word is important for me to understand the concept. So that's how I get through the books. And once I realize that,
00:11:06
Speaker
it starts opening up for me. The book opened up for me. So I was like, wow, I never learned about this before. And so the books was written by Western authors in English and there is a chapter about the Vietnam War. And so this is very controversial topic for Vietnamese people. So in Vietnam, at least
00:11:30
Speaker
in the north where I grew up, we don't call it Vietnam War. We call it the war against the US. So with the different language, you can see that different side of the word. And so the reasons or the explanation that I was given in the Vietnamese state provided textbook, Lettuce is completely different from the version I read in that English textbook. Right.
00:12:00
Speaker
And without going too deep in that topic, I just realized that, wow, even when people talk about the history, they can see a very different way. And I can totally understand why different explanation will serve different population.
00:12:19
Speaker
And I just really fascinated with that. I was like, wow, I really want to learn more about this one different perspective. I really want to dive deep in it. And so I was studying and I realized I love, I just absolutely love it. I even wrote a blog about a book.
00:12:36
Speaker
because I love it so much and it's still very difficult book and because I would study hard so I actually pass the test with high score so actually by retaking the test my overall score actually improved which is funny yeah and so from that point I really like okay so actually I really enjoy
00:12:58
Speaker
At that time, I didn't know a core research, but I really enjoy reading deeply or understanding a topic deeply and find out a truth or multiple truths, but process it for my own thinking, from using my own brain of kind of figuring out, making meanings of things. And so as I go through the master program at UPenn, it's confirmed, I believe, that I really enjoy doing research.
00:13:25
Speaker
And within my first semester at UPenn, I applied for PhD programs. And so I got into it. I instantly felt like, OK, after this first semester, I could see myself continuing toward the doctorate. Well, that will also have another factor into it. So I told you beginning, I didn't have a lot of financial means. Right. So the master program at UPenn, you can take it any time from one and a half to two years. But I didn't get that option.
00:13:54
Speaker
because I just couldn't afford living in Philadelphia without jobs for two years. Normally, professors recommended to take three courses at the same time, and I took four. And if you take the fifth one, it's free.
00:14:16
Speaker
So I actually ended up take five courses the same in the one semester and my goal is to finish a program within a year to save as much money as possible and on top of that I work part-time at the university as a research assistant
00:14:33
Speaker
And so that leading to the project I sent you actually before the podcast. But however, just because of also knowing that I love research and just confirming that I love doing research in the US.
00:14:49
Speaker
I don't want to really go back to Vietnam. I really want to get more English texts, understand different perspectives outside of my comfort zone, but also because of financial strain and the time crunch that really pushed me to make the decision quickly to go through the master programming.
00:15:09
Speaker
entering a PhD program. That's very impressive. It's thinking about a new country, new language, five classes, part-time job. How did you do it? What sustained you with these goals in mind? What kept you going?
00:15:26
Speaker
It was very tough. It's not sustainable at all. So I'm not saying people doing exactly what I did. It's actually very horrible. So I remember I was studying at the university in the library until 2 a.m. And for a long time, I didn't go home. So I came to the campus when it was still very dark, like 5 or 6. And I didn't leave until 2 in the morning the next day.
00:15:52
Speaker
And so I didn't know anything happened outside of campus. And so my friend would text me, do you see the flower today? It's spring already. I didn't see no flower. So it was very bad. And I thought actually that time I start learning more about mental health.
00:16:09
Speaker
And I had an opportunity to access this free mental health program at UPenn. And so that helped me a lot. But it was not sustainable at all. There was a period of time that I didn't sleep for two days. So I didn't know that it's even possible for a human to not sleep for two days straight. But I did 48 hours not sleeping, just working on paper. But then it took me another two weeks to recover. And so it's not sustainable. But I think the thing that keep me going is
00:16:40
Speaker
It's just obsession. I just really, really want to do it. I really want to do it. And at that time, my advisor at that time was not, I would say he's not completely on board with the idea of me going to PhD program. He was like, okay, what do you think about going back to Vietnam and apply again?
00:17:04
Speaker
Do you know why? Yeah. And so I mentioned the idea of me applying for a PhD program when I went in our first meeting and he was like, Oh, you know, it's very competitive to get a PhD program, which I would, I agree. But however, one part that I didn't mention earlier was that when I was in Vietnam, I actually did apply for a PhD program.
00:17:30
Speaker
And I got accepted at the same time I got accepted at UPenn for master degree, but my application that time were not funded. So I was an entrepreneur without funding. And so I told my advisor that time that, well, you know, I actually got accepted. I just didn't get the funding. And he would say, well, you see, they can accept you because of the money, the national student, they think that you have money, but you might not get the funding, which is true, but also like soul crushing.
00:17:59
Speaker
Well, however, so I get a lot of people like that. They give suggestions that it's very hard to do. It's very difficult. And people back in Vietnam, and so my friends say, are you sure you want to go for a PhD program? It's like five years. At the time, I was like 27. So like, when you're done with the program, you're 30. And what happened, you have not married, you know, all that kind of question. And so I
00:18:24
Speaker
But I never get that, get into my head because I was so obsessed with the idea of me fighting out finally what I want to do in life. And I love it so much to the point that I couldn't see myself doing anything else.
00:18:39
Speaker
So sometimes I think at that time I thought that is what occurs because you should not be that obsessive. You should not be too extreme. You should give yourself different options. But I just couldn't see myself doing anything else.
00:18:56
Speaker
So yeah, that, that's get me going because I couldn't see any other way. It sounded like once you had set your eyes on the target, it was like, that was it tunnel vision. This is what I'm going to do and do whatever it takes to get there. Yeah. Well, for what advice would you have for perhaps other international students who are thinking, making that jump from leaving their countries to come to the United States, pursuing graduate studies, or just graduate students as a whole who are
00:19:24
Speaker
contemplating is going to graduate school the right decision for me? Yeah, so I think graduate school is completely different from undergrad from my own experience. So undergrad I feel like nowadays a lot of people get access to go to college and sometimes folks do not want to go to college but because their parents were able to pave their way and also encourage them to get a college degree as like
00:19:51
Speaker
something to just go for a job. And so when I was in my undergrad program, it was a wonderful program, but you know, some student was not really into it and not really into the major, you know, just go at the flow and to get the degree. However, when I went back to get my master program, everyone
00:20:12
Speaker
wanted to go back for a reason. So either they realize that they really love the topic, the major like myself, I want to stay further, or they want to get a degree and get further in their career or whatever reason, but they therefore purpose. And so the focus, the interest, the attention is really high in graduate program. That's why I love teaching graduate courses because it's very different by for undergrad.
00:20:40
Speaker
And so if I think about any advice, I would think that for graduate students or potential graduate students in general, you want to know what is your purpose? What's your big why? Why you want to go back or why you want to go
00:20:55
Speaker
further in your graduate program. What is your big why? So I told you my big why is I couldn't see other way because this is something I love. But other people have other big why, and it's no reason or less legitimate.
00:21:10
Speaker
compared to others. So like you want to get a PhD, let's say, to become a superintendent, or you want to transition your career from being practitioner to professor. That can be one way, or you just genuinely want to switch field, which like me, I have different field and undergrad. So you want to find out your why. And so having a big why will really help you when you're in a difficult time. And trust me in graduate school, actually, you know, it's so many difficult times, the time that you wake up,
00:21:39
Speaker
sick a.m. and you not come home until 2 a.m. You need to understand, okay, so I'm here because I have this big Y. So that is my first advice for graduate student or graduate student to be in general.
00:21:53
Speaker
For the national, it's going to be a big jump being from your own country, your own culture to a new
Cultural Differences and Educational Barriers
00:22:00
Speaker
place. So just give an example. So in Vietnam, we often study in big classes of like 50 students, even 200 students. So every time you want to say anything, you have to raise your hand like this and the teacher will call you and you will stand up.
00:22:17
Speaker
and so everyone will look at you and you bet you have to say something good if you say something like I know your situation right I know it's intense and I'm guessing the student has to stand up just so that the professor can find them yeah and hear them clearly but also it's like really intimidating so I came to the US and like
00:22:38
Speaker
the class smaller, people sit in a circle and students just talk. They don't raise hands. So I just find myself doing this. And I did it even during my meeting, like a Zoom meeting. I was still doing that. Even though it's just me and you, I still do it to signal I want to talk.
00:22:56
Speaker
And it took me a long time to get over the anxiety in the classroom and okay, figure out when I should raise my hand or not or when, how can I jump into the conversation because it's just a different culture. And so now as I became a professor, I learned from my own experience. So I built in different way for students to discuss like small group discussion, writing in discussion board, because I learned that
00:23:24
Speaker
Some people did more comfortable writing rather than speaking up and so anyway so what my point is that for the national students it will take a period of time to adjust so in my opinion and my talking with a lot of other international students a lot of people say three months will be the
00:23:41
Speaker
the time period that allow them to completely understand, or not completely, but maybe beginning to get a grasp of reality of different countries, figure out the best way to write paper or to work on the assignment, to communicate with professors and students.
00:24:01
Speaker
For a lot of internationals, just take your time and don't feel like you have to be perfect in the beginning and don't feel that people will judge you. You can form a different place and there is nothing to be ashamed of if the way you're thinking, your language and your culture are different. Different doesn't mean negative. Yeah, so just take your time and you'll get there.
00:24:29
Speaker
No, I think that's great advice and I love the idea of letting that passion drive you in your study and your purpose for returning back to graduate studies. For me as well, I believe there was about a 10-year gap between finishing my undergraduate degree and then going back to graduate school. Oh, wow.
00:24:46
Speaker
And so I really like this idea of using your life experience and your interest and your career and all of these together merge to allow us to drive like, oh, I'm going to go back and this is what I'm going to do. Same for me as well. I had a low GPA in my undergraduate studies. I wasn't the best student. I didn't feel focused. I didn't know my target, but I will tell you this. By the time I decided to go back to pursue my master's, I knew exactly what I was doing. And I was a straight A student.
00:25:14
Speaker
So whether that's age, self-development, my interest, my own personal evolution, it really transformed who I was as a student and also gave me an increasingly amount of confidence in my abilities to participate in academics that I had never seen myself that way before. I didn't think I was smart or capable or in any way in pursuit of obtaining a PhD in the future.
00:25:39
Speaker
No one in my family had a PhD. No one in my family had really gone to college. So it was really exploring unforeseen territory. So I love the way that you describe this, especially in your case being an international student, because that journey is just so much, I think requires a little bit more, so much more bravery in sense. Especially exploring a foreign land.
00:26:01
Speaker
I appreciate you sharing that. Take me to your first research project, the Vietnamese Immigrant Project that resulted in two papers. How did the project come about? How did you collaborate as a research assistant?
00:26:14
Speaker
Yeah, and so during my time at UPenn in my first semester, I was really need to make money. I really need to make money because I don't have the financial support that the scholarship only scared me so far. But on top of that, I really want to have research experience for the doctoral
00:26:35
Speaker
application and I couldn't find anywhere because professor similar to my advisor made with me and say why you know they already have assumption and I don't I know I didn't hold them anything against them for that because if your time a professor is fairly needed and you if you want to collaborate someone you want to collaborate with people who already have experience in language right and so that are two thing that
00:27:00
Speaker
I didn't have that term. So I started to attend some certain career groups, career club, overnight by students. And I told everyone, like, if you see anything, let me know. You know, I really need to work. Anything research would be great. And so the day that my professor at that time, now my co-author, my dear mentor, Dr. Rand Green, he posted
00:27:26
Speaker
a post asking for a research assistant that know Vietnamese and English to collect data in the Vietnamese immigrant community. Everyone told me, do you didn't see this? You know, they emailed me, they reached out to me, did you see this? And I was just like, wow, not only I saw this book, but people around me talked to me about this, kind of like it was for me.
00:27:52
Speaker
So I applied for the position. I was interviewed. And the interview went very well. And so I remember when the queen asked me about one of my experience in Vietnam at that time, I was actually a co-founder of a US organization. So Vietnam is a socialist country. It's government control. And so
00:28:16
Speaker
having a nonprofit organization is extremely difficult, but we managed to create organizations at that time. And I seem like the queen was impressed with that work. And because the project in Philadelphia at that time is about immigrant youth. And so
00:28:31
Speaker
He asked me about that experience. I explained to him and he asked me if I can work independently. And I said, I came to the US by myself. I can do everything by myself. And so I got the job. I got the job. And I remember he first, he just wanted to hire me for doing data collection. The main reason, because I can speak both languages.
00:28:52
Speaker
So he needed a person who came to this program that I could not for Vietnamese immigrant youth and collect data. And later on it was shared with him and understand what, what the program is about and how that have migrant youth in Philadelphia. So, but he asked me to, did I.
00:29:09
Speaker
small literature review to explore the Vietnamese immigrant population in the U.S. So I did that. And I remember I was thinking, okay, so there are several ways to do the literature review. I thought about it. And there's some way that you just need to outline, you put the citation on, and you just do a summary, you copy paste on the apps, right?
00:29:28
Speaker
But another way was the way that make me feel like I want because I wanted to understand the Vietnamese immigrant community in the US because I was national that time I was not an immigrant and because I came from the north of Vietnam So I once and raised in Hanoi
00:29:43
Speaker
And the majority of Vietnamese immigrant folks in the US actually from the South, following the Vietnam War, the full of Saigon, they migrated to the US. And so I really want to understand because that part of history was not mentioned explicitly in my textbook growing up in the North of Vietnam. And so I genuinely understand. So I ended up writing the entire literature review. So I wrote.
Research Projects and Mentorship
00:30:11
Speaker
not only mentioned the citation, but I incorporated into paragraphs and so I submitted to him. And he was impressed at my writing skill. And I think it's caught him by surprise, just like everyone say, oh, wow, you international student, how did you write so well? And I am a natural writer. So my grandparents and my parents, they are all writers and editors. So, but in Vietnamese, we love English. But I learned how to translate
00:30:37
Speaker
translate that skill to English. And luckily my undergrad program in Vietnam was in English, so I used to write in English. And so after receiving that literature review, Ren told me that, hey, actually, do you want to be co-author?
00:30:52
Speaker
In this project, it's come out in the article, you want co-author? Of course, I say yes. And so that is the beginning of my first publication. So during the summer before me moving to Penn State for my PhD, I worked in the Vietnamese immigrant community in Philadelphia. I was observing, interviewing youth in a
00:31:16
Speaker
immigrant youth civic program. So that's a program that is very wonderful program actually. It provided a Vietnamese history, American history for Vietnamese youth and have certain viewing activities and debate about difficult topic. For example, the relationship between Vietnamese or Asian American and African Americans, the relationship between African American and white Caucasians, you know, that something that's that normally
00:31:45
Speaker
people do not talk about in the Vietnamese Asian family, not a school. And so it was a wonderful program. And I learned so, so much. I took qualitative classes, but doing the observation and interview in real life is a completely different experience. And also writing about it and then crafting the letter to the editors and then the
00:32:11
Speaker
to respond to the reviewers and figure out where to submit it, how to write a research article. And so I learned so much from that experience. And I'm truly grateful for the Queen to believe in me. And to this day, I pay it forward. So every time I see international students or minority students who have the potential, they might not be there yet. They might not be the poor, like, oh, I love that person to be my research assistant.
00:32:36
Speaker
But I can see the potential. I am willing to take that risk to meet them in the middle because I was given an opportunity like that before. Yes. I often hear that from graduate students as well, where they're like, oh, well, how do you find these opportunities? Like, I feel like I don't like how do you get started on a paper? How do you get invited to collaborate on a project?
00:32:56
Speaker
And I like that you highlighted in your story that you were, in a way, manifesting it. You were putting it out into the world. You were just waiting for it while searching online, looking for calls. That is one approach, of course, that can help you find these types of opportunities. But also you were going around by word of mouth and say, hey, I need money. I need a job. Have you heard of anything, any research opportunities?
00:33:21
Speaker
And it just so happened to be that an opportunity came your way that not only started as something small, like composing a literature review section, but then into data collection analysis and then to publications after. And at this point, you were, this was before your PhD or program, correct? Well, I started the project when I was a master's student, but the project continued on.
00:33:46
Speaker
When I was a PhD student at Penn State, we continued collaborating, writing this work. And I think by my second or third year, my PhD in the two papers was out. Right. Because it takes a long time, obviously. It's a long, long time. Yeah. Right. So a lot of life can happen in between.
00:34:06
Speaker
So these two pieces came out, and did you feel like more confirmation on your journey of, okay, this is who, what I want to study as a researcher? Because a lot of times we hear about researcher identity, scholar identity, and trying to align our interests with who we are and what we write about. So at this point, are you feeling some type of confirmation that you're in the right place, you're doing the work that you want to be doing?
00:34:30
Speaker
Yes, so I completely love it. There were so a lot of challenges along the way and I made a lot of mistakes, but I just love
00:34:41
Speaker
as academic professor, we often complain that, oh my God, today I only wrote like two sentences. You know, I don't know that happened to you, but it happened to me more often than I want to admit. You know, we read a lot and we write and we edit it and two questions. So that happened to me when I started my writing for the article and like some other painful part, like you wrote like
00:35:07
Speaker
of pages and then in the end you have to delete a lot and keep maybe like half a paragraph. The agony, right? No, I'm not going to use it. Try to save it though. I don't know if you have. Yes, I did. No writing is deleted. It's copyrighted in some secret private folder that I turn to when I'm in a hard spot. I'm looking for ideas or other writing that like,
00:35:37
Speaker
maybe this actually can fit over here. Yeah, I did that too. But what I meant to say that so there was moment like that. But I was at time like, Oh my God, it's so crazy. And then I step away from it a little bit and I'm like, Oh my God, what type of job in the world that will pay me?
00:35:55
Speaker
turn around to a sentence to assist in the whole day and I said I would not want to do anything else but this and so that during time I was at Penn State it made me realize that well I could go to do research in the industry or in non-profits which I did before or continue the journey to become a professor and
00:36:20
Speaker
Again, I just realized that, wow, I really enjoy research. I really like the flexibility. So I did the 925 before and this completely crushed me. I just couldn't do it. However, later on in my journey.
00:36:34
Speaker
Yeah, later on in my journey and toward the end of my PhD, due to several other reasons, finance and I have a young children at that time called it, I actually ended up working at a data analyst at Penn State. So that is a 9 to 5, but the whole thing which just made me realize that I actually only wanted to be
00:36:57
Speaker
professor. So the two articles definitely confirm my suspicions that this is my path, but it also gets into another big why. It's not only completely my PhD program, but what to do next. And I know that my next journey is to become a professor, but I actually
00:37:21
Speaker
the job market, the academic job market is horrible. And I graduated during COVID 2020, which is the worst. So I was interviewed left and right, but the old position shut down. It was really hard that time I got a newborn and I also went through a lot to finish my dissertation and everything. But every time I look back at my journey,
00:37:43
Speaker
I just couldn't see myself do anything else again. So I just know that I have to keep going. So a funny thing is that I actually wanted to keep up applying for academic position that year. And I told my husband, like, well, you know what? Maybe I'm OK because I didn't list. I just have to negotiate to work from home. But I don't know if I want to try again, because I've been trying. And you know, things happen.
00:38:12
Speaker
And my husband was like, no, you had to do this because no one loved university more than you. Like he was saying that while we went for vacation, then people went to like destination, but you went to campus to visit. That is my.
00:38:28
Speaker
definition of vacation. So he said, you should, but you should really at least try one time, one more time. And so that time I try and like got my position right now with, as the UA with Ashley. So that, that workout. That's so nice too, that you had a witness, someone who can almost like pull you back to reality, like, Hey, don't give up on this. Like, I know it's hard. I know there's a million and one reasons where you can walk away, try something else. But at least you had someone in your corner, so to speak, that said, no,
00:38:58
Speaker
like keep trying like you're it's gonna happen and then it was able to happen so you're gonna apply that faith so shout out husband so take take me to your blog the present writer what inspired
00:39:15
Speaker
your willingness to create a blog and discuss educational topics online and develop an audience. Yeah.
The Present Writer Blog and Minimalism
00:39:25
Speaker
So in the summer of 2016, I was in my second year coming to my third year at a PhD at Penn State.
00:39:34
Speaker
And I wrote a lot and read a lot about civil justice, leadership and educational equity. And I was very good at it. I was straight A student. I got my research assistantship right away. People love me. I have application.
00:39:49
Speaker
However, deep down inside, I just feel like I was a fraud. I was impulsive because here I am in the most wealthiest country in the world talking about social justice equity. Meanwhile, in my home country, I see it everywhere on the news. People struggle with access to education. There's a lot of misinformation or lack of information about education.
00:40:17
Speaker
I can see a lot of my younger self didn't get the same education of resources and level that I received in the U.S. And so I just think a lot about, okay, so how can I apply what I learned or share what I learned to the wall and to really do something with what I study? Of course, publication is one way, but publication takes a long time to write and then
00:40:40
Speaker
God knows how long people read it and then apply it. So I wanted to do something quicker. I want to make impact, but real life impact. And so I think I thought hard and long and I decided to open a blog. I call it the present writer and I intended to write in Vietnamese because at that time I had not
00:41:00
Speaker
written in Vietnamese for a long time. And my Vietnamese start crumbling, not like conversational Vietnamese, but the academic Vietnamese, the Vietnamese to communicate the written language. I feel like I start losing some of it. And so I start writing the blog.
00:41:18
Speaker
And so I start writing about educational topic and my journey in the US where I learned. And so that time I was really into the minimalist lifestyle. So which is a lifestyle that you simplify your life, focusing on what's most important and get rid of things that no longer serve your purpose or even relationships that are very toxic to you or
00:41:44
Speaker
negative feelings that you feel that is harming your progress. And so I really into that minimalist lifestyle and I blog about it and also use educational theories and sociological theory to analyze why this minimalist lifestyle can really help people
00:42:03
Speaker
be more productive and live a full life. And so that was the theme of my blog for a long time. And then a publisher, actually multiple publisher reached out to me and said, Hey, do you want to turn this blog post into a book? And I agree. And at that time,
00:42:22
Speaker
Just a quick question. At this point, what do you think your readership is like? In this beginning of creating and starting to release? Do you feel like, oh, me and a few people are checking it out? Or do you feel like really quickly you had success? That's the beginning, just my mom.
00:42:40
Speaker
Yeah, so I wrote my blog draft and I sent it to my mom and I said my mom is a professional reader. So she edit my although without her my blog was crap at the beginning. I might even have missed writing that time was not good. And so she edit my blog and she like why my blog and things like that.
00:42:59
Speaker
and then suddenly get momentum. And then when I started writing about minimalism, so actually the reason why I wrote about minimalism, because at the time, minimalism is a big movement in the US and in Japan. However, in Vietnam, I couldn't search. When you search in Vietnamese at that time, there's nothing come up. Origin is just a very short news piece. And I'm like, what?
00:43:20
Speaker
at the researcher, I'm like, it is like, I didn't do a good job at research or is this because of the gap in literature. And so I started writing about minimalism and my first blog post about that is the title is why I
00:43:38
Speaker
live a minimalist lifestyle. And that block went viral. And the definition of viral, I didn't know that time, but the definition of viral at the time for me was like, suddenly I woke up in the morning, I post it at nighttime in the U.S. I woke up and my pace blow up, people sharing it, people talking about it, like, what is it? Like, query me. And then different news outlet and other blocks in Vietnamese that copy.
00:44:04
Speaker
My blog without permission. So overnight, essentially, you go to sleep thinking, oh, my mom's going to like this one. Yeah. And you wake up and you have an insane amount of alerts and one year off. Yeah. And so I remember I wrote my blog on WordPress. Even WordPress sent me, oh, you have a virus. So they know, too, that I probably don't know. How do you think that? Because I also have a WordPress website.
00:44:31
Speaker
How do you think that it went from what sparked this interest, other than it obviously you found a gap in the literature, right? Was there a certain person or platform that you feel shared it and then it just picked up from there?
00:44:48
Speaker
So for the Vietnamese audience, the Vietnamese audience likes Facebook. So in the US, people like Twitter, but in Vietnam, people use Facebook a lot. So I think that platform helped me a lot. But also the viral post I shared earlier, I published about about one, I think about one to two months. So I take one and a half months into creating a blog.
00:45:10
Speaker
So I already have a certain number of posts. So when I have the viral posts, people would go back like, wow, what is this blog I've never seen before? And they start reading previous posts and they start liking it. And I think that creates a consistent growth other than just like one hit wonder. But also because me seeing that as a gap, I start producing more and more article on the topic.
00:45:37
Speaker
And because the topic is minimal, it's lifestyle. And I put in different theory, methodology, concept, east, west. So they have a different topic to talk about. It's like a research agenda and you're starting having different ideas. And so I think that pick up. And also the thing that make me different, I think, is my writing style, that term.
00:46:02
Speaker
So at that time, now it's different. But at that time, one of the things I see the gap in the blogging or Vietnamese writing community in general is that they only write in two ways. One time is a very fictional way. So with a lot of fancy words, a very romantic way of writing.
00:46:24
Speaker
or it's very just like reporting like news writing but there is not nothing in between so so like nothing as clear and logic like academic paper and also add the narrative like qualitative research so i would say okay so i decided that i will write my blog just like i write qualitative narrative base
00:46:46
Speaker
papers, but in the easier language to understand. And so the writing style make people, I think, call them by surprise, like, well, I didn't know Vietnamese can be written like this. And some people that tell me, like, your writing style is very Western, which I say, yes, because I'm as a kid in the US and this is how I see the world and this is how I write. And I think I'm one of the few people at that time writing that style. And then now people start learning from it. But
00:47:12
Speaker
It's also something very different that people have not seen at that time. Wow, okay. And so at this point now you're like, okay, obviously this is interesting to people. I'm going to continue to write about minimalism. And then what happens next? Yeah, so I said that people wanted to publish a book, which I agree, and I work on the book. So one thing crazy about me is that I work best when I have at least two projects at the same time.
00:47:42
Speaker
And I don't know why. I don't know it's like any scientific base on this. But like when I work on my dissertation, I need to counter it by writing a book. Mind active and toggling mean different tasks.
00:47:58
Speaker
Yeah. And actually that theme going on in my life. So I have to be both professor or academic and a content creator. I need to write a dissertation and I have a creative outlet. You have to go. It helped me. That's an important my life that I do either one and I completely.
00:48:17
Speaker
feel like it's just not me. I just feel much less productive. So anyway, so I was writing the book. It wasn't difficult because I wrote a lot of my blog already. So I could combine them and solidify the concept, making definition. Just like in academia, we combine different research paper in the book. And I also collect my data and working on my dissertation at the same time.
00:48:43
Speaker
And the thing that I was completely shocked that the book actually become a hit. It was national bestseller. And it was so loud right away. I was like, I, at that time I was like, I don't know how people care about this, but it's just, it's a wonderful. And so to the date,
00:49:01
Speaker
I think the book was sold more than 17,000 copies, which is a lot for Vietnamese audience. It's not like the most best-selling book, but it's definitely in the national best-selling book of certain years. So the publisher reached out to you, saw this, and then from there it just spiraled into, now let's create a book of all of these past writings and blogs, and it's published.
00:49:25
Speaker
Yeah, but also there's another journey into it, is that by the second edition, and which also around 2019, that printing run out and the books sold out, people at that time, I also opened my YouTube and my podcast channel, and then
00:49:45
Speaker
People know me more because they know from the podcast, know from the YouTube, and they say, oh, I want to buy your book. And so all the book sold out so fast. And I reached out to the publisher again and say, hey, I sold out. Would you pre-print it? And the publisher say no, because they say that time during COVID, they have different business strategies.
00:50:04
Speaker
and they want to prioritize newer book rather than the book that already reprinted two or three times like mine, which I completely understand. But then the publisher representative at that time, who was one of the person later on become one of my good friend, she said, I encourage you to perhaps self-publish
00:50:25
Speaker
book because you already have the audience. And that led me to another journey of becoming an author slash entrepreneur because now I had to create, okay, how to find licensing, how to contact a printing company, how to print the book, how to design the book, because everything is copyrighted, right? So, except for my word at the cover,
00:50:49
Speaker
I had to change the illustration, I had to change, I had to find printing company and had to find distribution systems that were leading me to build an e-commerce website and then find a different outlet to sell in Vietnam and so on so forth and had my team and so yeah. So at this point now we're not just talking about a blog, right? That your mom is reading, we're talking about
00:51:13
Speaker
a book. We're talking about a podcast series. We're talking about a YouTube channel. We're talking about now self-publishing. This is an entire brand.
00:51:23
Speaker
Yeah, there's a lot going on, but that was the whole thing I just explained, which has happened in about two,
Digital Expansion and Content Creation
00:51:30
Speaker
three years. It's happened very fast. It's just like everything with social media, this happened very fast. And during that time, I went to get birth to my son in 2018. And in 2018, I finished my dissertation, graduated and working at data analyst and then COVID. And so when COVID happened, I have a gap in the time.
00:51:52
Speaker
I do have time, I have space, now I have my family, so I start thinking about, okay, what next? And so that leads to the YouTube channel. The reason for the YouTube channel is because I wanted to... There's something that is just easier to show. Like, okay, so how to do the blog, how to do IPA, just like a how-to stuff, I just feel like easier to show in video.
00:52:16
Speaker
And so that is a YouTube channel. And then the podcast, so podcast originally, the idea was that I just wanted to read some of my, reread some of my writing on the blog so that people had the chance to listen to it. Because at that time I'd been writing for a long time, like five, six years. So my blog was complete like hundred and hundred pages. And so it's very hard for people to like find different topic and read about it. So I was thinking to create a podcast to rewrite the article.
00:52:45
Speaker
mentors me, I thought about hiring people to write for me or theme video for me, but it just all worked out. I need to do it myself. And so, and then the podcast become more like a space for me to share also my deeper thoughts on my raw emotion. And so that become what now people call it ecosystem, but I didn't have that vision in the beginning. So a lot of reporters in Vietnam and also a lot of people say,
00:53:14
Speaker
How could you build an ecosystem? I didn't build anything with a vision. It just happened because, again, my big why is that I wanted to translate when I learned the US to create more suggested and equity in education for Vietnamese students. And whatever form of tech that I feel that best at that moment, it could be a recent article. It could be a blog. It could be a YouTube video. It could be a podcast series. It could be a book. It could be a planner or anything that
00:53:42
Speaker
serve that big Y, I'll do it. And I'll find the meaning to do it. And so I didn't think about it as a big vision. It's happened because I build up on, I scaffold it based on my passion, my big Y, and it grow.
00:53:58
Speaker
No, I appreciate you saying that, and I love hearing that. You're saying that, hey, I'm already doing this work. I'm already, as you said, it became an obsession, right, when you first came to the States and pursuing these studies. So now it just seems like a natural way to continue to build and grow.
00:54:15
Speaker
And so I was able to check out your YouTube channel. I know you shared an academic research playlist. It covers a variety of topics that I think would be useful for a lot of graduate students. I know you said you have it in closed captioning for those who speak English, and then also for those who want to learn in Vietnamese, let's say they are full and you guys don't understand, or they live in Vietnam.
00:54:38
Speaker
It's been a great resource, but you cover how to use API citation, the literature review, organizing and managing literature, reading strategies, writing research papers, study tips, personal finance, productivity, minimalism, video essays. And then I was also really struck by the study with me video.
00:55:00
Speaker
You talked a little bit about these different varieties of content that you create. What have you noticed that's been most successful or it's drawn the most attention? What type of videos or content seems to be some of your fan favorites?
00:55:17
Speaker
now my youtube channel is not though so i have almost 600 000 subscribers but my view are not in the millions the reason why because well you have one video that is yes yes so i'm gonna talk about that video so so because it's educational channel it's not entertaining channel and so you okay so today i want to learn the topic and research and you find me
00:55:39
Speaker
Or if you have time and want to study with me, then I have those videos. So I couldn't target viral topic, even though I know which topic will go viral. But just because it doesn't go along with my agenda, my big why, so it will not do it. But however, the video that did well in my channel, as though in the middle of East and West, so very interesting. So the video that first hits a million view is a video about critical thinking.
00:56:08
Speaker
Now that video is so very controversial because I talk about, so actually that video is a part of my lecture for a doctoral student in the US because I asked a student to write a critical reading response to their reading that week and students struggle. They say, oh, because it's already publication, how can I critique
00:56:31
Speaker
I don't feel like I can do it. And these are American students who will raise individualistic, who will raise to raise a voice in class and have to raise hands. And I start thinking, wow, if these students, they still have hard time. So how about the Vietnamese student who was in different culture? So I make a mini lecture.
00:56:51
Speaker
talking about what the critical thinking is, how it's not, how can you criticize without a critic, without being like become like hateful or misunderstood. And so I deliver the lecture for my student for one of the section at the U of A and I translate
00:57:08
Speaker
part of that temptation to that videos for Vietnamese audience and people's like, wow, that's really important because I also want to learn about this, but I, the audience said, Oh, but I thought that's only something like in the West. Now they still saying that, Oh, I don't know. We can apply to Vietnam, but I tried to make some point that you don't need to be loud.
00:57:29
Speaker
to be critical. You don't need to attack people to be critical. There are many ways you can be critical. One of the ways that I'm my favorite is that you use your personal experience. Like, oh, I see what you're saying, but in my own experience, I see this. So can you elaborate for me why there's a difference between your findings, for example, and my experience? Am I like the outliner of your data or anyone else who have the same feeling with me?
00:57:54
Speaker
And I, as a researcher, I love the questions. And so that is one of the videos that doing well, it's like something between East and West. Some other videos that doing very well is how to study, study tips. And, but I think my study tips become more popular than some other videos because I'm not only, when I talk about study tips, I'm not only talking about how to get back a grade, but I want to talk about my set behind it. So like.
00:58:20
Speaker
If you want to have a good grade to me, don't study for the grade. You study for the genuine interest in the class. So coming back to my story of me failing the class because I didn't attend the class, and I just tried to get over it and pass the class. But when I came back to read the textbook, I found a new interest.
00:58:42
Speaker
And that lead me to excel in the re-tech final. And I start my journey. And I wish every student could have that moment like, oh my God, I actually really love it. Because that changed my life. And so I think those are the videos that did well. That's right. A book can change people's lives, people. That's why they're banning them. No. Yeah, as we know, in other parts of the world right now.
Productivity Innovations
00:59:09
Speaker
One other item, the planner, the presentation planner, how did the idea come about? And what has that been like releasing that? So the planner here, if you have the video platform, I had a plan in my hand, the planner
00:59:24
Speaker
So I create a planner called the present day planner, which is a companion book for you to plan monthly, weekly and daily and using different scientific methodology that I learned. For example, the Pomodoro technique in which you work for 25, 50 minutes and you take a short break.
00:59:44
Speaker
or the Eisenhower matrix in which you categorize your task to important, not important, urgent, not urgent. So I incorporate a lot of scientific-based practices in this planner. And so how the planner came about is that, okay, so this is a story of me almost quitting my PhD.
01:00:03
Speaker
study. So if anyone who are in PhD program or consider think about doing PhD program and knew everything about quitting, I talk about quitting. So at that time I was pregnant with my son. I was pregnant and I was really, I feel really down really sick and I feel really burned down. And I just feel, I think mentally and I was exhausted. And so
01:00:30
Speaker
I would, at that time, there was a day that I decided to come to my advisor office, who was wonderful, the cash chef. So I was thinking about like, okay, me, I will come in to talk to him and say, oh, can I ask for a year before to figure out my life and things like that. And so to overcome my thought, I wrote like a script and I put it in the planner. I have that term, a planner.
01:00:57
Speaker
And I took a bus and on the bus, I opened the planner. I always practiced the script to see how can I talk to him in person. He was so wonderful for me. And now here I am saying that I want to take a break, but actually I wanted to quit because I was really exhausted. And while doing that, I just start realizing that the planner I had that time, I also had a productivity planner that time and the planner is have like different tasks. Just like a planner have like, okay, what task of your day and the end is
01:01:24
Speaker
the planner have a prom every single day ask, thinking about your productivity of the day from the grade of from the score of one to 10, how productive you are. And I starting headed. I was like, okay, so I think there's a reason why I was feeling like
01:01:39
Speaker
So burned down and feel that I'm not enough because every day I use its planner and in the end I create my productivity as like minus or like one two because I get you know, the list the police are so long and how do I know how to how I measure my success and I remember the time I was on the bus I was like, well, you know
01:02:02
Speaker
If I was a designer, how can I change this? And then I remember I flipped the paper in which I have the script. I will flip and I start drawing. Okay. So first I need to open this to-do list. So that's not like a long list, but have a priority. Then I need to have some sort of, of a problem. So then people say, okay, so every day if you work.
01:02:23
Speaker
X amount hour, then very productive, not just counting by task. Because I say, if you put it in your planner that, oh, today I write a research paper. And to end the day, you wrote like two paragraphs. That is wonderful. But like, when you see the task and you see, oh my God, that is, I didn't do anything. Then you would grade yourself. I don't know. It's like, yeah. Yeah.
01:02:44
Speaker
And so I really like that is that planner really psychologically, although not just a planner, but the way in the West we train to like quantify our work and measuring of ourselves really hurt me at that time mentally. And so that's that with the beginning. I want to create a planner that is helping people with productivity, but also very balanced. They should have some paradigms of people just to celebrate themselves, reflect, enjoy.
01:03:14
Speaker
Yeah, and so I just keep working on it. The buses go around. And by the time it gets to the final destination, I was like, are you leaving? And I was pregnant and I was like, oh, I'm leaving. And then I just go straight home and I never...
01:03:30
Speaker
I was never bothered to meet my advisor. And so that is the idea. And that was five years ago. And so from that idea, first I created a prototype and I didn't know design. So I forced my poor husband, who was very supportive, I forced him to learn in design to create the prototype and then
01:03:51
Speaker
I used that prototype to test out, so I did really, truly a research project. So I did test the different population. I did do control, control, not control. I was doing different way as a researcher to figure out, okay, how can I change that? How can I make it better? And I work with different designers, and finally found a person that I think truly understand the purpose, the big one, the book. And so we made it happen, and the book just came out three months ago.
01:04:20
Speaker
Oh my goodness. Congratulations. For people who are interested in the planner, can you give a little overview of what they might find inside, how it can be useful, and then also if they want to purchase. Oh, thank you. So you will find inside a monthly page in which it allows you to mark out any deadlines like a calendar. And then there was a weekly page for you to categorize your
01:04:45
Speaker
task that you want to do in the work in the matrix. And then daily, there is a daily page for you to put in your task and also track.
01:04:56
Speaker
Like I said, 25 minutes you're done with, and then you can circle bubble. And then, and it actually looked like this for me today. So today I first, I have a writing section and now I'm at Ashley podcast. So I will go on. Yes. And then to the end of the day, instead of asking you to create your productivity, my question is.
01:05:19
Speaker
my day in one sentence. So you write your day in one sentence. Oh, one thing I forgot that every day the planner start with a gratitude, the quotation and a good positive quotation and the gratitude journal prom. So my prom is today I'm grateful for and you and you write out.
01:05:37
Speaker
and the planner and then oh and then the end of the week i have a page for reflection so once you learn the week how can you apply what you learn to the next week no shame at all not like oh what can i how did i do i did i miss but more like what you learn and what you can do better
01:05:54
Speaker
And a planner like this, it lasts for six months, if you do it every day. But obviously, if you skip some day, then it can last longer. But this is for six months. And currently, the planner just started distributing it in Vietnam. And I'm finding a way to import it and distribute it globally. And so if you're interested, you can follow me on surpriseenware.com. And I will let you know the journey of the planner. Nice. Can I dare ask what you wrote for what you were grateful for today?
01:06:22
Speaker
Today, I'm grateful for catching up with my research projects. So yesterday I wrote, today I'm grateful for working with my husband because we now with the growing of the present writer, my husband actually ended up being full-time editors.
01:06:43
Speaker
for the video although he didn't speak any Vietnamese or understand but he did color question and music and he added some video that I speak in English or I didn't speak in Vietnamese so he did those study with me video yeah and he become very good editors in fact he was he started having clients all over the world and then I told him like you had to fire your clients and and work for me full time so he he he is a big part of my journey as well
01:07:13
Speaker
Okay, so one more question I want to ask before we move to our final segment here. Some other faculty and academics might be listening and thinking, wow, like Dr. Chewin does a lot. She has the research project, she's a mom, she has the podcast, she has the YouTube.
01:07:32
Speaker
especially like does this count? Like how do you, especially for us who are taking your track and early career faculty, I know you're about to go up for your third year review, are these types of things you're putting on your CV? What feedback, if any, have you received from the institution or your department head on how this type of public intellectual work you're doing, how does that contribute to who you are as a scholar and a researcher?
Recognition in Academia and Creative Approaches
01:08:01
Speaker
Yeah, so I had to admit that for my first two years of working at the UA,
01:08:09
Speaker
hide everything. If you look up anywhere, my application, they didn't even see the person write at all. Number one, I don't know how people would judge. I had the same question. Not only was that cow or not, but also is that something that I'm not supposed to do? Is that any conflict of interest? Also, even though I never mentioned
01:08:31
Speaker
unless people ask like on my profile say I'm a professor in a research university in the US and I never mentioned U of A and I never used my career here as, you know, my title or the way to make influence or vice versa. So I didn't mention it, but then I started talking to folks that I have the relationship and I started building chests to people and, and I said, Oh, I have this project, but I just afraid of how people will think about it.
01:08:57
Speaker
and then actually people have a lot of positive things like oh that's actually wonderful and actually it's actually an extension of my research because I studied social justice and equity so everything I do actually is for the community. I didn't like having a TikTok dance about you know but it's nothing wrong about that but like just like I think it's just harder to
01:09:19
Speaker
to justify you do something completely different, but here I am doing something relevant. So same words, you actually have this podcast talk about learning, willing to learn. And so I think you just have to find a way to comfortable with, with sharing that part and see the, the important of it and to education. And so I got one feedback, I think important is to disclose your outside.
01:09:42
Speaker
of the outside activity. So it doesn't need to be like conflicts, but it just like, you know, disclose. So I did submit a form, disclosure form, so the university know this is what I do. And, and I only, also one thing is I only did my project after hours. So I went every day at the cemetery in a weekend. One thing playing my advantage is that Vietnam and the US are completely different time zone. And so
01:10:08
Speaker
During the day in the U.S., it's not the time to work in Vietnam, and so I work after, and then I have my team to work. And so it doesn't really affect my productivity, and I told you that I need to have both to be productive, so it's really beneficial. I talked to the dean last summer, and he actually said, wow, actually, that's very cool. And he actually said, oh, mentioned University of Arizona, so maybe people would go to university because of you.
01:10:33
Speaker
Vietnam. I didn't think about that before. I could make a good impression about the university. And so for my CV, my dossier, all my work listed as a, I think, list at outreach and service with a YouTube podcast and blog.
01:10:52
Speaker
and my publication I listed in other publications, like nonfiction, invention with a planner. Yeah, so I didn't list out that. So one of the things that I also hided in the past is that I actually got featured a lot of podcasts and media, mainstream media in Vietnam and other places for the present writer. Biden never included, but now with the Dean's support, I started to
01:11:19
Speaker
incorporate that into the media mention section of my CV. Most of my interviewers in Vietnamese, so I did have translation in part that needed. But yeah, totally. You should not hide it because there's nothing to be ashamed of. And if you have any uncertainty, find a faculty member that you just ask them the process of how to disclose your work and talk about it in a different way.
01:11:44
Speaker
No, I think that's phenomenal. And obviously, a part of this podcast, I want to highlight how people are navigating and integrating creative approaches to the research and how they share that research with various audiences. And so I thought you would make a fantastic guest on sharing how you're able to find so many different avenues and spaces where you can share your knowledge. And I really admire it.
01:12:10
Speaker
Thank you. You're welcome. Before we go, I want to just play a little game called, in my expert opinion, and basically I'm just going to rattle off a few hot topics and I want you to give your initial reaction on the matter. So for instance, number one, faculty or academics who are interested in using social media to share their research. What's your hot take?
01:12:32
Speaker
I say, why not go for it, but make it meaningful. So when you share, not just shout out, I had the application, but maybe give out some insight to it. Like I started when I was graduate student or I work with my graduate student or why I do it. So they'll give out some more behind the scenes or any more meaningful other than just shout out. Okay, great. Number two, when you're working based on your work with immigrant Asian youth, what do you feel is something that
01:13:00
Speaker
they're looking for or needing in their organizations or in their education right now.
01:13:05
Speaker
immigrant people, immigrant students, especially international student, minority student, they really want to find someone that they feel that can understand their journey, that they can talk to, they can relate to. So that's why I feel part of me, I want, even though I'm such an introverted person, I feel like I want to, people to see me, I want to be seen, I want to be
01:13:32
Speaker
representative because I know that wouldn't inspire other people, especially immigrant students who say, oh wow, she's from Vietnam, English is not her first language and she doesn't, she wasn't come from a wealthy family, but she looked like me and here she is a professor and she have different avenues. And on top of that, she's still a mom and she's still able to have a family. So I think that minority students really need models like that, some mentors and guidance that
01:14:01
Speaker
really understand their journey and can share with them and keep them encouraged. Okay, great. Number three, and we can end with this one, minimalism still play in your life. Is it still important? Has that changed? Minimalism is a huge part of my life, but it definitely evolved as I involved minimalism in full. So I was really working on my second nonfiction book.
01:14:28
Speaker
The first book, translating to English, I'm working on the English translation. The first book, the title is Holistic Minimalism. So the idea, my idea is that minimalism is not just about throwing a wage or belonging. So many people think that all minimalism is about cleaning. No.
01:14:44
Speaker
If it's cleaning, it's called cleaning. It's called minimalism. But minimalism, for me, more holistically is how you see the world, how you see yourself, how you see cluster not only in your physical spaces, but also in your mind, how you can turn something so complex, but you try to get into the core of that problem. Just like research, you get into the core of the problem and you focus on that. That, for me, is holistic minimalism.
01:15:12
Speaker
But so throughout the year I involved, so I think I sort of mastered the mindset of minimal, the minimalist mindset. So I see everywhere is how can I be more simple here? How can I be more minimalistic here? But at some point, especially now.
01:15:25
Speaker
it's hard getting harder and harder to say no to certain thing because before it's just like, okay, so that these two toxic people don't, you know, I don't want to talk to, but now like opportunity that I love, like this podcast or I got the podcast or opportunity for collaboration, you know, grand writing, but then I still have to pick and choose because my time is limited as everyone else. And so how can you even be more minimalist,
01:15:53
Speaker
and choosing among all the positive things. Before, it's like choose between negative and positive things that you need and not need. But here, if everything is great, how can you choose the most refined part in your life? And so my next book, Teaser, you're going to call Refine Minimalism. And so it's going to talk more about more advanced version of the first book.
01:16:20
Speaker
Okay, great. Thank you. So before I let you go, do you have any resources that you recommend to listeners to learn more about your type of work you do, or to learn about establishing a brand and a social media presence?
01:16:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think, you know, there are different resources online for free, but I think several books that helped me in my journey. So for Academic Journey, I recommend the book The Professor Is In. She also has a blog and she also inspired me to give academic advice. So The Professor Is In, the book that compiles of a former professor, tenure, full professor,
01:17:00
Speaker
advice on how to get a job in academia and events. In your career, of course, some of her advice will not apply to everyone because she also have limitations based on her own experience and her time and her expertise. She form anthropology field, I think. But then that was still a very good book. And so I recommend that book. For media, social media building, I think there are different
01:17:25
Speaker
very good book about brand building, but I suggest a book, The Export Secret by Rachel Brunson. So that is a book more about business, but it's how to create a brand of business based on your expertise. So when you're the expert, it will be very different. If you're not an expert, then you have to choose a different way than the rabbit. When you're already an expert, how can you build a brand based on your expertise?
01:17:51
Speaker
Oh, nice. I want to definitely look into that book. Thank you for sharing. Just remind listeners where they can find you. Yeah, you can find me as the present writer. My content will be in Vietnamese, but if you want to reach out to me, my email is qingwen23 at arizona.edu. Amazing. Thank you so much for coming on Willing to Learn. Thank you.