Tiffany Lu (10) has been going to Lac Hong Vietnamese School ever since she was in kindergarten, first as a student, and now, as a student helper, or a TA. Classes are held every Saturday at Wangenheim middle school, teaching Vietnamese children about their culture and language. Lu, after graduating, was invited back to help teach the younger students.

“When I was going there, I always dread waking up at eight o’clock in the morning, every Saturday,” Lu said. “But now that I have graduated, and am walking back through those halls, it’s really nostalgic.”

The school had changed much since Lu was a student, and one of the main reasons she went back to help out, was that during COVID, many TAs had left, leaving the school understaffed. 

I think after COVID there were less and less people every single year,” Lu said. “It was really sad. I really wanted to help them out.”

Lu’s first day, December 10th, was initially quiet, as there was a test. After the students had all finished it though, Lu worked with the kids in the school’s cooking program. 

“For the years I was there, my elective was cooking,” Lu said. “ My first day, we made this really popular Vietnamese street food, it’s basically a chopped up, fried, eggroll, with lots of toppings,” Lu said. “It was the kid’s first time trying it, and everyone seemed to love it; the whole tray was gone in twenty minutes.”

Lu also fondly remembers the annual Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival, hosted at Mira Mesa community park, that the school participates in. The school hosts a booth at the community festival, where a multitude of different Vietnamese schools collaborate and perform. 

“Every time the Lunar New Year comes around, you see all these amusement park rides that are rented out, and a stage [for performances],” Lu said. “And it’s a lot of fun to go out on the weekends during the new year to help out and see the students perform.”

One of these performances was a fashion show, where students dressed up in Ao dai, and the An áo tứ thân, traditional Vietnamese clothing. 

Lu looks forward to this year’s festival, where she will now be an MC, introducing the performers, and translating the scripts into Vietnamese and back again for the audience. 

“It’s definitely a lot more work on my hands, but it’s all for a good cause and I actually don’t mind doing it,” Lu said. 

Lu said that the school really helped her connect with her culture, and create a sense of pride in her heritage. 

“I definitely learned a lot,” Lu said. “And because of that, I speak more Vietnamese at home. I’ve also come to love being Vietnamese a whole lot more, and have this huge appreciation and pride for its customs. Every time I’ve heard something positive about my culture from others, it just makes me so excited.”