Alumni Spotlight: Terrence Word

I decided to volunteer with TFV on a whim. I had talked a lot with a good friend from college, who did TFV the year before me. Her post and time abroad sounded like a lot of fun, and i was eager to travel and see a new part of the world. I had been applying to oodles of jobs, and as graduation neared, had not yet had any job offers. I once again talked to my friend, who mentioned that the TFV application deadline had passed, but that they were still looking for applicants. So i applied, got accepted, and decided to go. None of it was planned out very well, but i'm very glad i went. There are lots of other programs i could have done, but i didn't bother to look around or do research. It was pretty spur of the moment. Luckily TFV turned out to be pretty good, and i didnt have to pay anything.

Once in Vietnam, TFV's role was essentially over. They helped get me over, paying for my flight and health insurance, etc. Can Tho university decided my day to day, which was pretty basic. I taught around 15-20 hours a week, my contract stated a max of 18h, and i was paid extra for the extra hours. I think I was supposed to have office hours for my students, but nobody ever told me this directly, so i never bothered to hold them. There was zero oversight on my teaching, so if i felt like cancelling class on a whim, I could, and did. This is normal to Vietnamese college students, whose teachers routinely cancel class at the last minute. I was required to give a final and a midterm, any other grades were up to me. So i did the bare minimum. The two exams were written and graded by myself and my fellow volunteer who taught similar classes.

This program was unique in that I was thrown into vietnam with zero orientation or guidance. TFV gave me some info before I left, but once I got there all they could do was write an email to Can Tho univeristy if I needed help. The university staff picked me up in HCMC the first day, dropped me at my housing in Can Tho, and said, "see ya later!" I started teaching the next day, and had to pull teeth to get any sort of help or orientation. Everyone at CTU is nice, they are just supremely disorganized and incompetent. Vietnamese bureaucracy is comically complex and infuriating. I was given a text book for each course, often about a week after the class had actually started, and told very little about what I was supposed to be teaching. All my negativity aside, I loved living in Can THo, and my students were very nice. The teaching was challenging, and it would have been nice to have some guidance or oversight. TFV was very clear on the fact that they could do nothing once i was there to help me, besides writing a letter. It was also unique in that our house was broken into twice in two weeks.

I should note that the post in Can Tho has been discontinued. TFV is still posting volunteers in many other universities around Vietnam, but decided CTU was not deserving of the volunteers because of the way we were treated.

I realized without a doubt that i do not like teaching English in Vietnam, but i learned a whole lot about myself. I love teaching math, and intend to pursue math teaching/tutoring this coming year. I had an amazing, and sometimes difficult time learning about a new culture, and pushing my comfort level. I can now confidently say that I am comfortable living in different places and in different cultures. I had a great time making new friends with other volunteers and the few Vietnamese who could speak english well enough to form friendships. It was great walking down the street and being invited to eat and drink with complete strangers. It got awkward quickly as we could not really communicate, but it was touching nonetheless.