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The ACE in Place Vietnam group has rapidly immersed ourselves into our responsibilities through working alongside Coach for College and our Vietnamese partners. Our team, composed of five Duke University student-athletes and one Stanford University student-athlete, is virtually working alongside Vietnamese college students to provide advice and content for camp students, who range from sixth through eighth grade students. Camp content includes educational instruction in English, math, biology, and physics, as well as life skills lessons.

Through a wide range of cultural exchanges and direct interactions with the campers, the ACE team has deepened our understanding of Vietnamese culture, which has assisted in our pursuit of providing the most influential instructional content possible. Although the camp is being held virtually, ACE student-athletes have impacted the camp students through sharing personal advice and academic content. We are all very excited to continue to develop our civic engagement capabilities and deeply appreciate this unique opportunity!

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Seamus Harding

Hello everyone! My name is Seamus Harding, and I am from Hillsborough, New Jersey. I will be a junior on the Duke Men’s Swimming and Diving team this upcoming school year. I am majoring in Psychology and minoring in Music. I am thrilled to be a part of the Vietnam program for ACE this summer! I have been most excited to share my tips with the Vietnamese children about the different approaches to navigating the path of life and helping them improve their English. So far, the highlight of this program has been connecting with my Vietnamese co-teachers in Life Skills and English: Tuong Vy, Anh Cao Minh Nguyen, Camille and Vân Anh. We have already formed an amazing friendship! It has also been a pleasure working with my fellow Duke ACE student-athlete partner, Lillie Walker, teaching the Vietnamese children English. It has only been one week, and I am already considering being a part of ACE or Coach for College next summer in Vietnam!


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Julia Boyet

Hello everyone! My name is Julia Boyet, and I am a junior on the Duke Softball Team. I am majoring in Biology and minoring in Psychology. I am excited to have the opportunity to learn about the Vietnamese culture this summer and be able to say that I have friends all the way across the world by the end of this experience. At the end of the first week of the program I have most enjoyed hearing about the progress the kids are making in the classroom and finally getting to meet them for the first time. I am looking forward to continuing to learn more about both the coaches and the students each day.


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KyAnh Truong

Hello everyone! My name is KyAnh Truong, and I am a rising sophomore on the Duke Women’s Swimming and Diving team. I am from Austin, Texas and my major is undecided right now, but I am interested in a science major on the pre-med track. I am so excited to be able to do the Vietnam ACE in Place program this summer, especially since I am given the opportunity to learn more about the culture and environment that my family members grew up in. My favorite parts of this program so far have been the cultural exchange activities toward the end of the meetings as well as being able to get to know my Biology and Green group co-mentors: Vy, Vân Anh, Nhu and Brenna! I am most looking forward to forming closer connections with my co-mentors as well as getting to know the Vietnamese students better.


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Zach Barry

Hello! My name is Zach Barry, and I am a rising junior on the Duke Men’s Cross Country and Track & Field teams studying Political Science. I am very excited to be participating in the ACE in Place Vietnam program. I have been provided an immense opportunity to deepen my understanding of new cultures and develop my ability to teach and communicate with others through this program. I’m looking forward to the next two weeks, and I am thrilled to have the chance to continue to interact with both the Vietnamese teachers and students. Teaching the students life skills lessons and sharing recommendations of how to find your passion has been my favorite part of participating in the program so far!


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Brenna Neault

Hi there! My name is Brenna Neault, and I am from Rancho Cucamonga, California. I am a sophomore on the Women’s Gymnastics team at Stanford studying human biology. I am excited for the opportunity to learn about other cultures and to share mine. I am enjoying working with my math and life skills group members who make the collaborative experience on the zoom meetings fun. Every day, I look forward to our cultural exchange activity. So far we have learned about everyone’s hometown and their favorite holidays. During the first week, we met the children in our life skills group once, and I can’t wait to interact with them more in the coming weeks


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Lillie Walker

Hi everyone! My name is Lillie Walker, and I am a junior on the Duke Softball Team. I am majoring in Psychology and minoring in Education. I am super excited to participate in the ACE in Place program in Vietnam because it gives me the opportunity to build relationships across the globe while also teaching students which is something I’m very passionate about. During the first week of program, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the Vietnamese college students we have been working with. We also got to meet the kids that are in the camp. It is super interesting to see the differences between our cultures, and I can’t wait to learn even more!

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