{"id":253019,"date":"2026-09-15T07:30:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T11:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=253019"},"modified":"2026-09-15T10:09:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T14:09:18","slug":"a-first-time-teaching-assignment-like-no-other-vietnam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/09\/a-first-time-teaching-assignment-like-no-other-vietnam\/","title":{"rendered":"A First Time Teaching Assignment Like No Other: Vietnam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just a few weeks after graduating from UConn Neag School of Education\u2019s Integrated Bachelor’s\/Master teacher preparation program<\/a>, Lynna Vo \u201924 (ED), \u201925 (MA), began her first year of full-time teaching on the other side of the globe, in a country she felt unfamiliar with, yet deeply connected to.<\/p>\n

Vo, a Fulbright scholar and Vietnamese American from Meriden, Connecticut, served as an English teaching assistant at Hong Duc University in Thanh H\u00f3a City, Vietnam, during the 2025-2026 academic year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it was an experience that was meant for me,\u201d Vo says. \u201cI was excited to challenge myself. I was ready to just take in everything from everyone that I met and every experience that came up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fulbright Program is a cultural exchange program that provides scholars with merit-based grants to teach or research abroad. Vo says she saw the Fulbright as an opportunity to broaden her horizons and explore her own cultural heritage. Her passion for teaching was inspired by both of her parents’ emphasis on education and seeing a need for more Asian American representation in teaching roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to be the person that I needed in the classroom,\u201d Vo says.<\/p>\n

Vo\u2019s grant began in August 2025 with a three-week orientation session with her Fulbright cohort in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital. Vo then taught phonetics and speaking and listening courses at the college and elementary school levels at Hong Duc University and its K-12 school on campus. She rotated through about 500 university students and 300 first, second, and third grade students.<\/p>\n

The large class sizes of up to 40 elementary school students were challenging, but Vo still recognized her ability to have a positive impact on students.<\/p>\n

\"Lynna
Lynna Vo \u201924 (ED), \u201925 (MA) teaches elementary school students at Hong Duc Primary. She taught phonetics and speaking and listening courses. (Courtesy of Lynna Vo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Even though you might not have in-depth conversations with all of these students, even hearing from a native speaker will make a difference in their language learning,” Vo says.<\/p>\n

Another unfamiliar aspect of teaching in Vietnam for Vo was the lecture-based, teacher-led, and testing-focused approach in the classroom. While this was a stark contrast from the student-centered model she was accustomed to in the U.S., she was grateful for the exposure to another system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was insightful as an educator to learn how different education looks everywhere and to realize that there is truly no one way of teaching,\u201d Vo says. \u201cThere is not necessarily a right or wrong either. It\u2019s just different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vo found that responsiveness to students\u2019 needs is a common factor between the two countries. She also served as a cultural ambassador for students, creating and facilitating learning and cultural exchange opportunities outside of the classroom. She says building relationships with students was one of the most crucial and rewarding aspects of her time in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking sure that your students feel valued and seen will help them take risks in your class, make mistakes, and be able to grow,\u201d says Vo, who connected further with students by living on campus and visiting their hometowns at their invitation.<\/p>\n

Vo says seeing some of her students\u2019 home lives made her more compassionate. Some of her students had full-time jobs, long motorbike commutes, or families who have made significant sacrifices in pursuit of higher education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was another opportunity for me to learn about them, their community, and what shaped them to be the people they are,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

While in Vietnam, Vo was able to visit family members in the country for the first time in her adult life. What she knew about the country was shaped by her parents\u2019 stories following the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n

\"A
Lynna Vo \u201924 (ED), \u201925 (MA) poses with a group of her students at Hong Duc University. In addition to her teaching duties, Vo served as a cultural ambassador. (Courtesy of Lynna Vo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI was learning through their stories but realizing that Vietnam has transformed into a different country than what they once remembered,\u201d Vo says. \u201cIt was really cool going as an adult and being the curious person I am and asking all the questions that I wanted answered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaving Vietnam was bittersweet for Vo. She was excited to return to the U.S. and reconnect with her parents, but Hong Duc had become a second home for her. She did stay in Southeast Asia for some time after her grant ended, traveling with a student to their home country, Laos, and visiting her family in southern Vietnam again before returning to the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people that I saw every day or on a weekly basis, they were my community,\u201d Vo says. \u201cSo, saying goodbye to that was really difficult and emotional. This is not, \u2018Bye forever.\u2019 This is just, \u2018I’ll see you when I see you. I’ll see you the next time I\u2019m here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Vo is settling back into life in Connecticut and looking forward to continuing her teaching career as a sixth grade math teacher. She says that many of the lessons she learned in Vietnam will be evident in her Glastonbury classroom this fall. She intends to highlight the power of connection and open-mindedness to her students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many similarities to one another even though there’s a lot of differences,\u201d Vo says. \u201cConnecting to one another, seeing those differences as a beautiful thing, cultural humility, being open \u2014 those are definitely the things that I hope to share with my students as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vo says she also wants to provide her students with a multidisciplinary education, lead extracurricular activities, and turn everyday experiences into learning moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to emphasize this idea that learning extends beyond the four walls of the classroom,\u201d she says. \u201cI have to inspire students to always stay curious and seek out and embrace new opportunities, new perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s advice she also intends to heed herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the biggest overarching theme of my experience: learning,\u201d Vo says. \u201cEven as a teacher, never stop being a learner. Always be curious.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neag School alumna Lynna Vo ’24 (ED), ’25 (MA) completes Fulbright year, teaching university and elementary students<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":253020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,2429,2426,2467,1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2217],"class_list":["post-253019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-awards-scholarships","category-curriculum-instruction","category-global-cultures-perspectives","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-22 10:49:56","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253019"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253056,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253019\/revisions\/253056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/253020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253019"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=253019"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=253019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}