The 20th Annual Conference of the National Association for the Education and Advancement of Cambodians, Laotian and Vietnamese Americans.

"Honoring Our Past As We Enter Our Future"

Viet Ha is the College Semester Abroad Regional Associate for Asia at the School for International Training. He recruits, counsels and works with college students and oversees the school’s Asia programs.

This paper looks at the challenges and rewards faced by heritage students on School for International Training’s College Semester Abroad Vietnam programs. In general, heritage students are considered those who select a study abroad program based on their family background national, cultural, ethnic, or religious. Traditional study abroad is talked of as a sojourn of immersion in difference, of immersion in another culture. By spending time in a different way of life, students reinvent and transform themselves while they complete a semester. For heritage students, this idea of leaving a familiar environment and traveling far away from home carries additional motivations. These students are often choosing a program for identity reasons. In recent years, we have observed a trend of over 50% self-identified Asian-Americans enrolled in the SIT Asia programs with the largest numbers in the Vietnam program. Although we can't assume all these students are motivated by heritage, their experiences in study abroad are frequently distinct from their peers. The lessons learned from these students' experiences will be shared as a means of learning more about the process of discovering cultural identity.