Thank you - the School of Global Studies and Thailand. I graduated! :)

14 May 2023

I began my final presentation at GSSE by telling my friends that "I am grateful to be your classmate."

Couldn't share real photos anymore because my blog storage ran out :(

I felt a surreal sentiment. It was not a stressful moment when I talked about my research design in the first year discussing the alcohol consumption culture of the young. It was not the nerve how to present our social innovation project progress professionally in year 2. It was not the distress of presenting how Adidas addressed their financial problem in Integrated Accounting Class in year 3. Those stressful presentations were adrenaline races!

This time, the sentiment was more than illustrating a painstaking research result. (Without Chat GPT, thankfully). It was a genuine reflection of my personal experience. I used the galaxy theme as the background of my slides. I think that my life is a universe where all people I know are stars, and I am also a star. Then I said to my friends:

It was a confusing process to make sense of life's meanings. But I enjoyed the serendipity of the seeking journey. It entangled hope, disappointment, and acceptance of the impermanence of life. I hope that everyone will be fine and grow in whatever we do. Everything has 2 sides, we have to go through low days in order to enjoy highlights. So, we just have to live. 🙂

Acknowledgment

I’ve got hundreds of questions asking why I chose Thailand to study. Why Thammasat? The answer is (significantly) the School of Global Studies. When I began from scratch in Thailand, I had no friends or networks. I knew clearly that my passion is about youth education, social-emotional intelligence, and interacting with people. I talked to my teachers and researched opportunities. I gathered more understanding of my faculty’s politics and the challenges of its evolution. I have complained about courses, but most of the time, I attended worthwhile learning. SGS teachers are diligent and care about students - like our student-centered approach to education. Thank you for considering our interests and needs for learning. Thank you for being extraordinarily caring to us.

When I am writing these words, I am slightly jobless and studyless. I still learn something daily and have some freelance duties. Yet I no longer need to attend class on campus, I don’t have to rush to the office for an internship. I am not contracted to be on programs 24 hours watching students. I am living like a cloud.

I want to write this letter to thank the following human beings, who I have met and helped me grow over the past 4 years in Thailand.

• Mom, Dad, sister and brother, beloved cousins - Thank you for your love and presence.

• Mom - who gives me wise thoughts and orientation in my educational career

• Hang (Married) - Thank you for recommending the school to me

• Natt - my partner in crime, who helps me think critically and make life decisions

• Patipan - who is there when I need and support everything I do

• Hang (Hellen) - not sure if we are soulmates 😀- we understand each other at ease though being in different parts of the world because we embark on similar things like learning, travel, healthcare and environment!

• Ajarn Dipendra - the person who interviewed for my GSSE admission, a professor I never took a course with, but I worked with you as a Work-Study student, then managed the Summer Pre Program. Thank you for trusting my leadership, and allowing me to learn to confront the pain of politics, thank you for lots of knowledgeable conversations during our meals and biking in Bangkrachao!

• Ajarn Pannin and Ajarn Austina - thank you for interviewing me when I was on a hot summer day in HCMC, I was nervous and fidgeting, then you brought a new world of empathy and meanings of education to me at GSSE. Every time, I talked to you both, I gained a sense of love and resilience.

• Ajarn Tao - my destined advisor and teacher who inspires me to be critical about human-centered design and urban planning. I would always feel nervous to present and speak in front of you because of your intelligence. Thank you for listening and advising me about many concerns like life and career path.

• Ajarn Stephane - being my mentor and a dedicated teacher. Thank you for giving me advice on opportunity cost, and free philanthropy and willing to listen to whatever I am up to. Thank you for reading my lengthy blogs and appreciating my portfolio. I hope you stay safe.

• Ajarn Paul - who allowed me to tell stories about Chocolate meditation in my first year, studying debate and theory of change. Especially, thank you for letting me know JUMP!, at the very first class of the Human Communication Course - the start of wonders in experiential learning and youth education.

• Ajarn Istvan - a kind teacher, who seems never angry at anything. Thank you for being supportive, and responsive to my emails, and teaching me about your research on community development. Thank you for being kind to explain every question I had in class.

• Ajarn Preawa, Ajarn Hermis and Ajarn Mook - Social Innovation Teachers, thank you for teaching me to be creative and persevere to address social issues. Thank you for instructing me to be in my longest SI project at GSSE - Nang Loeng Community Project where I found new insights, empathy, deeper friendships and connections with the people.

• Ajarn Mathew O - you are the funniest philosopher! Thank you for the 10-page essay assignment. It was the first time I wrote about governance and social media through time and countries. Thank you for building space for us to think about philosophy, culture, and social networks.

• Ajarn Mattew B - I love your instructions so much. It was clear in a way I felt inspired to study governance and human rights. Thank you for giving feedback on my Free Speech essay.

• Ajarn Preawta - I love your counseling session on Design our Life - career coach. I also love your sessions on meditation and stress management. Thank you for challenging me to create a marketing project on our shared passion - organic farming and ecotourism.

• Ajarn Chris - thank you for your recommendation to participate in the Student Competition, South-South Cooperation. I would never call it a failure but a time of learning. I would always remember your kind smile to cheer us up, while I was unbreathable before the presentation. Thank you for creating space for us to discuss many social innovation case studies.

• Ajarn Parita - thank you for making me unlearn my economics successfully. I didn’t do well in class but I liked economics more than the time I did my previous economics classes. Thank you for being a consultant on our SI project. Thank you for your internship offer at your school, and support for my path.

• Ajarn Neil - Thank you for bringing lots of good books to class. Thank you for allowing me to write about a working experience in cross-cultural places. I like how you facilitated us to explore our culture, values, colors, and beliefs. I got an interesting marketing project on Green Water with a creative team.

• Ajarn Altaf, Ajarn Pailin, Ajarn Nontawan, Ajarn Phithaksak, and Ajarn Sati- thank you for challenging me to embrace the learning process including difficult subjects and learning activities. Thank you for listening to our concerns and adjusting your lectures. It must not be easy.

• Ajarn Stefane and Ajarn Fai- you are the only 2 lecturers from other faculties that I look up to, the only one elective outside of GSSE. Thank you for our meaningful discussion on cultural heritage and urban tourism.

• P’Tan, P’Nan, P’Bank, P’Mook, P’Nut, P’Bass, P’Junior, P’Noomam-You are the kindest staff I have ever seen in my academic life. Going from my previous university, I must say I am lucky to work with you all. Thank you for being supportive of me through much documentation and administrative work.

• Shannon Fox - who empowers me to dive into opportunities. You are a superwoman, a genius octopus, a person that I look up to.

• Perrin, Gen, Josh, Aie, Ahdi, Sondang, Noel, TR, Kalyan, Chadel, Sofia, Thinuwan: Thank you for being my great mentors who taught me from baby steps to big steps in Experiential Education. I learned how to navigate technical tools to logistic preparation. Then I grew confident in taking the lead in running activities, getting students' attention, and holding space for meaningful conversations. Your knowledge, skills, passion and personality truly inspire me.

• P’Fai and P’Fah- Thank you for being my colleagues and my good sisters in and outside of JUMP!

• JUMP Family - Becky, Hannah, Patrick, Som, Gita, Omorose, Carol, Nikita, Neha, Jade, Kai, Intee, P’Mei, P’Gai, P’Tem, P’Khae, P’Bank, Cass, P’New, Akruti, Uncle Tim, Namwan, Jin, … I can’t count!!! Thank you so much for being my colleagues and friends. I can remember your unique stories you told me if you reach me right now. OMG, the huge community made me realize how introverted I am.

• Song - for being my friend. Thank you for having me in our courageous journey in Mekong. You inspire me with your learning attitude and the longing to give. Thank you for sharing your growth with me.

• P’Jamon - thank you for bringing me to see many parts of Thailand. You inspired me to go with the flow and be a helpful individual whenever possible.

• P’Kwan, P’Xingha - thank you for being my good friends, especially for making my life at Thammasat during Covid lively. I came to your office to study, attend kayak events and volunteered with you at the Vaccination Center. Thank you for your generosity and kindness as my brother and sister.

• ADA - my nong la hat: thank you for our sweet conversation and our good volunteering time at Thammasat. I hope you follow your dream and your gut.

• P’Khem and some Ajarns from Faculties of Learning Science and Technology: Thank you for allowing me to teach kids Design Thinking. I felt the heaviness of being a teacher to modern children. I questioned how to keep learners engaged and develop themselves.

• P’Ted - who recognizes my potential and being a hard-working leader in the team. I hope you have time to achieve many of your goals one at a time.

• P’Bank, P’Sun and P’Platoo: thank you for being my kind colleagues at Sasin who taught me creative arts, reading, mixology, food, etc, and to live. The internship wrapped up nicely my academic journey in an academic world.

• Myself - who think so much about the meanings and impacts of work and take a path less traveled

• Lihoon and Teng- for being my good friends that support me and listen to me when I need to.

• Giang, Cong, Nga, Lam (exroomate)- thank you for being here. I know you won’t go anywhere, you are here, with me.

• Hau & Thom- thank you for keeping Youth Nurture Club alive with me. We are a good team! Thank you for sharing opportunities, and telling good stories of your life changes. I am happy to see you both achieve a lot!

• Friends I met in Pai community (Mae Hong Son), Bring The Elephant Home, Our Land, Thammasat Sustainability, Nang Loeng Community, Bangkrachao Cycling and Trekking Group.

As I write these thankful words, my heart is filled with gratitude. I may not need to push myself too hard. I have one life to live. Hitherto, I have millions of moments to live. Many of my moments have been well-spent thanks to you all. So I am willing to spend my hours reflecting on your lessons and teaching others what I learnt from you all. I am willing to write a lot and rewrite because you taught me that the first draft is always the worst one. Thank you for having me as your student, with acceptance, warm welcome, mentorship, teaching, and humanity.

Warm regards,

Linh

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“You don’t have to understand life. You just have to live it.”

“Life sometimes gives you a whole new perspective by waiting around long enough for you to see it.”

“The paradox of volcanoes was that they were symbols of destruction but also life. Once the lava slows and cools, it solidifies and then breaks down over time to become soil - rich, fertile soil.” “She could plant a forest inside herself.”

“Of course, we can’t visit every place or meet every person or do every job, yet most of what we’d feel in any life is still available. We don’t have to play every game to know what winning feels like. We don’t have to hear every piece of music in the world to understand music. We don’t have to have tried every variety of grape from every vineyard to know the pleasure of wine. Love and laughter and fear and pain are universal currencies.

We just have to close our eyes and savor the taste of the drink in front of us and listen to the song as it plays. We are as completely and utterly alive as we are in any other life and have access to the same emotional spectrum.

We only need to be one person.

We only need to feel one existence.

We don’t have to do everything in order to be everything, because we are already infinite. While we are alive we always contain a future of multifarious possibilities.

So let’s be kind to the people in our own existence. Let’s occasionally look up from the spot in which we are because, wherever we happen to be standing, the sky above goes on forever.”

The Midnight Library, Matt Haig