Dr. Doan van Dieu

Dr. Doan van Dieu was a very interesting and intellectual man. He is a psychology professor out of the Ho Chi Minh University in VietNam. At first, I didn't quite understand what he was trying to say in his message, but later was revealed. I feel like his presentation was more of a "Are we prepared for the real life?" preaches. He focused his presentation on the importance of families and the relationships we have within the family. His first message was very interesting to me, which dealt with children and marriage. We are supposidly free to choose for ourselves, but is that actually true? Dr. Dieu's studies showed that children, though able to make the decision on their own, often asked their loved one's parents for permission to marry their son/daughter. I know personally when I'm ready to pop the big question, I will more than likely do the same. Not only that but I will find myself asking my own parents if I am making the right decision and if they approve... Which is exactly the majority of what actually happens, regardless of this "freedom to choose", we still rely heavily on our parents' opinion. This was a good transition for him to talk about the real educational differences between families here and families in VietNam. Though parents expectations look quite similar, they're very different in terms of subjects. For example, here in the United States, a common problem we face is our capitalistic nature to always want that high paying, stable job. We are usually very free to choose what we want to do in our lives, with some parent interaction... Usually parents are very happy when their child choose to be a doctor, lawyer, etc., but are usually happy no matter, as long as they are getting their education. In VietNam, expectations are ridiculously high when it comes to their studies... They, too, would rather have their child have a stable job and good education, but aren't stuck up on getting that well paid job. Dr. Dieu told us a story about how a parent would disown their child if he quit school. So you see the emphasis they put on their education. Sometimes I think we've lost that drive to educate ourselves, and maybe a more direct approach from parents could help... this kind of change, however, is very doubtful. In VietNam, the number one expectation children think they should abide by is filial piety... At young ages, many are told what they should do for a career, and most go through with the career picked for them by their parents. I found this baffling, but also filled me with curiousity. Wouldn't it be nice to get to college and already know exactly what you were going to do with the rest of your life? That might help not only getting your college career jump started, but also that possibility of actually enjoying what you study. Maybe it's that push our society needs...