Hau "Howie" Le Hometown: Burlington, VT Major: Graphic Design & Digital Media Class of: 2010 Factoid: Born in South Vietnam; chills out on Lake Champlain
The semester is simmering down to an end, and I can only hope that I performed well in all of my classes. Beside classes, my job as the Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion’s marketing coordinator is also coming to an end. For a year, I planned and implemented marketing strategies to encourage residential students to engage in the Champlain community. This office is new this year. Champlain has never before had an office that is designed specifically to help and improve the experience of minority at an institution where diversity is low. Even though my job’s description was all about marketing and advertising, but I was given the chance to do more than that working with Angela Batista, the office’s Director. With a personality that has an appetite for networking, I soon jumped on the bandwagon of outreaching. Reaching out to students who long for a sense of connection but do not know how to go about in achieving this. I know I’m capable of show others how to connect with the campus life, because I have been through it once. I was told that there is no better way to teach someone to do something than by having a person who’s been there and done that to guide that person through it. I am no expert at teaching anyone anything (we have professors for that), but by guiding someone, it gives both the opportunity to learn from each other.
My time here at Champlain will always be savor deeply within me. The people I’ve met, the achievements I’ve contributed in making, and the joy in seeing myself grow is astounding. I’d never expect to get this type of experience when I was writing my essay and filling out my college application.
This year, I’ve met countless people that had impacted in my personal growth as an individual. Two Champlain staffs that I would have loved for them to continue to stay close with me, and guide me through the process of learning how to make the best decision for myself, but it turned out that they couldn’t. One left Champlain to further her career, and the other one left under a not so ideal circumstance. I was confused, and my mind was troubling when they both exit my life. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know whom to turn to for advice, and I felt like I just lost an ally but then I learned something new. I learned from a staff here that even though they’ve left and move on, but it doesn’t mean that they will stop watching me grow. It doesn’t mean that they’re out of my life. It doesn’t mean that they can’t partake in influencing my future’s decisions. They’ll always be there for me. This is the difference between the staff at a high school and the staff at a college or university. They’re not just a staff at the institution, but they’re also your friends.
I finally could catch my breath! I meant to update everyone on my Alternative Spring Break trip much earlier but as soon as I got back, I was swooped into this whirling pool of urgent tasks. I had to finish up the Darrly Hunt, Office of Student Diversity banquet, and the Center of Service and Civic Engagement dinner designs. I had to prepare myself for a Residential Assistant interview and a Peer Advisor interview.
The RA position is not an easy position to acquire because of the high number of applicants and limited positions available. They look for someone who can demonstrate leadership skills, someone who’s responsible, someone who’s willing to raise a voice for another and someone who understand that diversity is vital in building a strong community. I’ve always been an active member in the Champlain community, but sitting in that room, it was hard for me to sell myself. My interviewers know who I am, and going into the room, they knew of the stuff I’ve done around campus. For me at least, it was awkward to treat those people as though they don’t know who I am and of the stuff that I’m involved with. So with a marketing mindset, I tried to re-market myself. I tried selling them me again, but in a whole new way, which was why it was difficult. I wanted to tell them the things they already knew about me in a different perspective, a perspective that they might have not seen before. You know, just trying to spice things up a little. March 31, 2008 is the day when I will know if my re-market strategy works or not. Wish me luck!
As for the Alternative Spring Break trip, it was AMAZING! Why? Well I’ve acquired 16 new friends, a connection with a group of women from Noah’s Wish, altered the way that college students were portrayed in a group of gentlemen (who were very reluctant to meeting us), contributed to building a house for a family in need, and something very important—that is I’m gained a little bit more muscles on my arms. The car ride was not the highlight of the trip, but it gave us time to bond with one another, to get to know each other in a whole new way. By the end of the trip, we treated everyone like family. It wasn’t just love in this family, we had little tiffs, we were stressed out, and we might have passed some blames (by accident of course) but in the end, we came back still loving each other and continued to hold onto the friendships we forged.
I realized that this is getting a bit too long…but I have so much more to say. I really don’t know where to start and how to condense everything down without losing the essence of the experience. I guess if you ask me specific questions, you’d get more out of it that way.
Recently, the Christian Science Monitor interviewed me, asking about my experiences here at Champlain and how my New American Scholarship has impacted my life. Without the New American Scholarship, I probably would not be attending Champlain College. I was accepted into Castleton State College, a few hours away from Burlington. I chose to apply to Castleton because I wanted to be away from my family. I then found out that I was award the New American Scholarship. As much as I wanted to be away from my family, but I thought about the debt I would be in after college. If I attended Castleton, I will be in debt like most college students, but for Champlain with the New American, my debt would be little to nothing. How can I pass it up?
My major right now is Multi-Media and Graphic Designs, but originally it was Criminal Justice. I know, quite a leap right? My parents encouraged me to pick a major that would ensured me a high paying job after college. They believe that artist don't make any money. But then I realized, even if I can't get a job after college with a graphic designs major, I don't really have to worry about anything. I won't really be in debt.
Champlain College does its best to provide opportunities for students to grow with the community and as well as individuals. During Martin Luther King week, I was given a chance to co-host a workshop with a close friend of mine to raise discrimination and racism awareness. Inspired by Dr. King, our discussion revolves around incidents that occur in everyday life but are kept silent. Many of my “first" occurs here at Champlain. My first published artwork, the first time I raised my voice to something I care about, the first time I devoted a week to improve other people’s live, the first time I took leadership in a club, the first time I had a roommate, the first time people treated me like an adult, the first time I facilitated a discussion and the list goes on. Champlain is not only about getting a good education; it’s also about learning and growing as an individual. It’s about being socially active, and aware of global issues. It’s about learning how to express concerns for the things that matter. What more can you ask for out of a college?
This was taken at a Refugee Resettlement dinner co-sponsored by OSDI.
So much to do, but so little time. I thought the first few weeks of classes were supposed to be mellow and rather slow. It may be true for some other students here at Champlain, but definitely not for me. I came back to campus a week before everyone else did because I was contacted by the Center for Service and Civic Engagement to work on designs for their upcoming event. Then when classes started, I had to get the International Club up and running again, and finished up a few projects that I didn’t finish last semester in the Office of Student Diversity.
Last night, I felt honored to be able to speak in front of the Board of Trustees. I was flattered when I was asked to give a speech to the BOT regarding community services and what it has done for me. I accompanied my speech with a video that I made from going down to New Orleans last spring for my spring break. It was a remarkable experience. The expenses were paid through fundraising and a big part from Champlain College. I’m heading down to New Orleans again this spring break with twice as many students from last year. I’m pumped and ready!
This is the video that I'd assembled from my trip down to New Orleans with twelve other Champlain's students in 2007.
In case I’ve never mentioned it before, but I’ve always been living at home with my parents while attending Champlain. My first year was quite difficult to fit in. I lived far away; I was disconnected from my fellow Champlain students and cut off from all the resources Champlain offers. I was trying to adjust to college life—at home. It’s the hardest thing to do. I’m watching all my friends having the time of their life at college, and fully emerged into the typical “college student" lifestyle. While, I’m still living under the roof that my parents provided and along with that—I still have to abide all their rules.
As of right now, at this very second…it’s all about to CHANGE!
I’ve made an “adult" decision and left my home to venture off into the unknown. I’m still unpacking my belongings in my new room in Rowell Hall. It’s by far the most exciting thing that I’ve ever done in my life. I’m away from my parents, I feel grown up, I know I can take care of myself, and I know I’m about to gain a whole new perspective. I’ve always wanted the whole package from being college student—the good and the bad.
To be honest, I’m a bit sad. Last night, I had to break the news to my baby brother, Cody, who’s only 5-years old. I sat him down and told him I can’t be with him anymore and that I’ll be living on campus. My tears were trying to force its way out as he said, “Why? You can’t go! I want you here. I will block the door tomorrow morning so you can’t go. But if you leave before I wake up, then I’ll tell mom to go search for your car and we’ll make you come home." It’s heartbreaking when this morning I lied to him. I told him I was just going to my car and grab my stuff—but little did he know, that I wouldn’t be back for a long time.
On a happier note, now I can cross “Living in a dorm" off of my checklist. The next thing to do is—study abroad!
It’s that time of the year again for me to sit down and reflect. I sat in room on my red moon chair, turned off all the lights and I sat in complete silence. It’s to help me relax and concentrate on my thoughts. For hours, I replayed in chronological order the images and lessons I’ve acquired throughout this semester.
Social Change Leadership retreat kicked off my semester, teaching me the art of listening. We as humans love to give advice and to help another when we hear a heartfelt story, but we need to stop and take a step back. Does that person want us to help? Sometime they just want us to listen—to really listen without comments and advices. It’s that simple.
The Wall of Oppression, simple black boards hung up on campus during Coming Out week, showed us that oppression affects everyone. Throughout the week, the boards have acquired numerous cases of oppression in student’s everyday life. As hard as it is to confront it—but it’s the first step in the healing process.
Tent City proved that if students come together to make a difference—they could make a tremendous impact in their community. Over a week long, Champlain students raised an estimated of $4000 for the homeless shelter in Burlington.
Amadou Sow, a painter that taught us to stop trying to create an “image" when composing a piece of art. Just let the brush flow—stop restraining your mind. “3 Innocents and a Spirit" play forced people to confront discrimination in order to heal and learn from it. Janice Perry pushed people to explored performing art in a variety of different mediums and how to express oneself creatively.
Ending the semester with Festivals of Light, a night of performing art that showcased traditions, cultures and holidays by various diverse Champlain students and community performers. A night celebrating our differences and inspire people to embrace who they are.
Maria and I at Festivals of Light, we performed a skit about the Vietnamese's New Year.
This semester, my tears have fallen, my pains were healed, my frowns were conquered by smiles, my heart touched by fellow students, my voice heard by others, and my life has been given a meaning. Boundless possibilities…there is truly no better way to describe Champlain College.
Last week was horrible, mainly because I was bombarded with last minute assignments and final projects. I have one major project for each of my classes and they’re all due on the last week of the semester. To be specific, that’s five projects total. A final theme photography project, 10 pages essay, final 3-D composition, a product design, and a company website. I’m torn; I don’t know which one to do first. They all take about the same time, and they’re all important. It’s horrible that all of these projects are due all at once because that means I can’t afford to spend more time on one specific project and get all the details down. I can’t blow these projects; they’re each worth 30% of my semester grade. I have to keep a certain GPA for my New American Scholarship. On top of that, I’m going to have to study for final exams soon. I missed being a kid. I missed sitting in my first grade classroom drawing and learn ABC’s. I didn’t have to worry about deadlines or exams. All I had to worry about was what snack I wanted to bring to class. I guess it’s no use complaining, it’s college. I’ll just get right to work.
My Thanksgiving dinner was amazing this year. A couple of my friends and I got together and cooked again. I guess we haven't learned from our mistakes last year because the turkey was pretty dried just like the year before. Besides that, we had a blast.
Turkey day was the highlight of my week. As for the other days of this week, I spent it working on my projects. I'm in Photography class and our final project is to shoot a theme of our choice. My theme is to convey words through my pictures. So I scheduled a photo shoot with a friend of mine for Thanksgiving Day to do it but I forgot to buy films. Knowing that nothing would be open; my only option was to search for the films at grocery stores. They had all sorts of film, except for the one I needed. I should have thought ahead. Now I have to find another day to do it, and times are running out.
I auditioned to be in this year's theater show, and Professor Ronis finally sent me an email informing me of the roles I got. I'm really excited. I get to play an angry customer causing a fuss at the DVM, a romantic guy in a foreign shop trying to woe a foreign woman and lastly, I will be in a skit called "the Restaurant Sketch" from Monty the Python. I have no problem at being angry, but being romantic--I really need to do a lot of work on that. As for Monty the Python, well I've never understood the show, so that will be the biggest challenge for me. How am I supposed to be funny when I don't get the joke myself?
This is exciting, my first blog post! Is this where I'm supposed to introduce myself? Don't worry; I won't bore you with my whole life story. My name is Hau Le but most people know me as Howie. I'm a sophomore at Champlain College studying in Graphic Designs & Digital Media. I'm originally from southern Vietnam and I've been a resident in the United States since 1990.
Now that the introduction part is over with, let's talk about vacation. Oh yes, vacation! It’s coming up in less than a week and I can't wait. I'll get to make another attempt at cooking a turkey. Last year wasn't great; the turkey was dried and burnt. Any tips? Tent city is happening this week; I wonder how all my friends are doing in the cold. Tent city is a week long, campus wide event that happens once a year to raise awareness and money for the hungers and the homelessness. During this week, volunteered students will sleep outside in a tent, they gave up all their luxuries (cell phones, laptop, cars, makeup, you get the idea), they’ll get two meals a day which consists of basically just bread and broth, and lastly, they'll have to beg for money (which will be donated to COTs). It's harder than it seems. I was a part in planning it this year, but I didn't commit to sleeping outside in the courtyard. So far this week, I've gone to all of the educational activities and brought them donuts. I just wish I could do more. How hard is it to buy donuts compared to what they're doing? Do you think you can do it?
I'll keep you posted. Feel free to leave me questions and comments.
I’ve made an “adult" decision and left my home to venture off into the unknown. I’m still unpacking my belongings in my new room in Rowell Hall. It’s by far the most exciting thing that I’ve ever done in my life. I’m away from my parents, I feel grown up, I know I can take care of myself, and I know I’m about to gain a whole new perspective. I’ve always wanted the whole package from being college student—the good and the bad. 
