by Isabella Calderon
ON my first late winter trip to the Nevada Legislature in Carson City, my first stop was Assemblywoman Erica Mosca’s office. I enjoyed my time with her and was filled with excitement for my next stop, Assemblyman Duy Nguyen. After the interview, we headed over to the gift shop. We found so many interesting books and stones, but I chose Nevada history bookmarks. My sister Amelia, on the other hand, chose Nevada shaped cookies and coins. I truly recommend the gift shop to anyone visiting the legislature as a must. Assemblyman Duy Nguyen moved to the United States in 1990, but he and his family did not speak a word of English. He never had thought of becoming a politician. His parents’ expectations were to become a doctor or lawyer. Assemblyman Nguyen graduated from high school at the age of 16, along with a few college credits. He later attended San Diego State University majoring in business, then later switching to psychology. Assemblyman Nguyen completed his bachelor’s degree and masters in business management from the University of Phoenix.
I had the pleasure to spend some time in the gift shop and discussing education in Clark County with Assemblyman Nguyen.
IC: How does it feel to be the first immigrant Assemblyman of Nevada?
ADN: It’s really an amazing opportunity for immigrants, like myself. Immigrants are the folks in this country that normally are not being talked about when people make decisions. We need to have more people that come from immigrant backgrounds in local government like mayors, councils, police departments, sheriffs, state officials, governors, and Congress. We want to ensure that there is diversity in what we do and that people know what immigrants’ needs are. Folks who grew up in a different country and are now living here have different needs. For example, people in the U.S.A may eat steak and potatoes. In Asia, we eat more rice and noodles. As an example I am talking about food, but everyone has different needs. We should voice out an opinion about our cultural background. There are Filipinos, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Koreans. But we get put in one box that we just check the Asian box. We have so many cultural languages, traditions, and ways of doing things that people need to know. I’m very lucky to represent District 8, the most diverse district in Nevada. About 40 percent of people living there are Asians. It’s significant to have someone that looks like me to represent the community that makes up that district.
IC: What are your plans for the shortage of teachers?
ADN: My plans for the shortage of teachers is to ensure that we improve salary and working conditions. They can’t really do their job if they’re worried about paying their bills, saving for their family and money. Let us create solutions that help the teachers make more money so that they can take care of themselves and their families. This leads to another topic that I want to talk about. Things that we’re requiring teachers to do is consistent with student achievement. We must give them the tools to be a better teacher and to help them help students. It’s a very complicated process with education funding, but if we focus on making that a priority, then we will improve recruitment.
IC: Besides raising the budget, how can we make more educational opportunities and encourage kids to go to college?
ADN: We can encourage kids to go to college by showing them. I support the idea of having third, fourth, and fifth graders to learn about college life. They get to learn to participate in activities, make decisions, and practice how to be successful in life. College is about building skills and preparing for the real world. Most of the time, younger students want to go to college because their parents told them or they have older siblings. The other issue that is often talked about is that there is not enough money. They have to go get a job or two to pay for school. A lot of young people don’t want to go to college because they can’t afford it. I believe we need to work on creating automatic access to college, ensuring it’s available for everyone. Education helps us make better decisions, be more informed about the world, and become better citizens. It also enables us to invent new things that benefit society and save lives.
I think the challenge for the Asian Community and athletes is that they often don’t receive the recognition they deserve. There are many Asians in various walks of life facing this issue. It is important to aspire to become a great athlete and use that to pay for college, explore passions and ask questions.
Find a mentor who does a lot for the community. Learn from your mentor, follow them around and get that person to teach you how to help people. I think there is a lot that we can do. I want to encourage you to ask us questions, learn to be curious, and try new things.
IC: What are your plans for the shortage of teachers?
ADN: My plans for the shortage of teachers is to ensure that we improve salary and working conditions. They can’t really do their job if they’re worried about paying their bills, saving for their family and money. Let us create solutions that help the teachers make more money so that they can take care of themselves and their families. This leads to another topic that I want to talk about. Things that we’re requiring teachers to do is consistent with student achievement. We must give them the tools to be a better teacher and to help them help students. It’s a very complicated process with education funding, but if we focus on making that a priority, then we will improve recruitment.
IC: Thank you so much for your time and this interview!
ADN: Thank you so much! Now let’s go raid the gift shop for souvenirs.
