The Gentle Catalyst
Le Hoang Vi Giang 24′
Department of East Asian Studies
At first glance, the characteristics of my department – East Asian Studies – already guarantee meaningful and deliberate discourse. However, it requires more than authority and proficiency to take knowledge, cold and unchanging, and be able to turn it into wisdom; even more to make such wisdom stay with the students. It was in one of my favourite classes, East Asian Confucianism and Its Modern Challenges, that I experienced a near flawless demonstration.
For context, upon entering the university program, I was incredulous to notice that my culture hardly ever came up in either the discourse on Northeast Asia, or Southeast Asia – thus, it would not be inaccurate to say I went through a mild identity crisis. In retrospect, I suppose I should have done a bit more reading on the subject from a Taiwanese perspective; though, with a new life just beginning, I was caught up with learning how to interact with this new and exciting environment. Which is why I was both apprehensive and incredibly hopeful for this class, it being the first to feature my home country, Vietnam, in the curriculum. On one hand, I was curious about foreign academic perspectives on Vietnamese culture, and on the other, I was all the more excited for the chance to share what I knew – hoping that the professor and my classmates, who mostly saw my culture from a removed perspective, would understand and appreciate my input on the subject.
Fortunately, I was not disappointed. My teammates were all helpful and supportive, welcoming my contribution to our group’s performance despite it not being done in very good Mandarin; the lessons’ contents were on principles, philosophical ideals and history yet were not restricting – all was interesting and accessible, and through discussions, the professor allowed us space to share our own thoughts as well. At half a year since I began university, I finally felt valued and found a sense of belonging. Beyond shared wisdom and budding relationships with like-minded peers, however, I had also gained an understanding of effective delivery. From watching and interacting with my professor and classmates, I was led to an unexpected – nevertheless cherished – revelation: in teaching, expertise matters, though only as much as the willingness to learn and exchange knowledge between all who is involved, be them teacher or student.
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To young adults, uncertainty is inevitable. However, one of the few things I am sure about nowadays is that I am grateful to be where I am now. In such an environment where there’s opportunities galore – for both learning and nurturing one’s self – it should be of no surprise that I have been able to find inspiration and a community, and have them be present in the shape of comfort. As it goes in a musical number I love: “Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better, but because I knew you, I have been changed for good,”[1] such is my appreciation for the people and experiences here at NTNU and the Department of East Asian Studies so far – I could hardly wait to see what is to come.
[1] Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, “For Good”, Decca Broadway, on Wicked, 2003, CD, https://youtu.be/Y8YMfgu92hQ
Bibliography
1. Menzel, Indina and Chenoweth, Kristin. For Good. 2003. Decca Broadway, CD. https://youtu.be/Y8YMfgu92hQ