Amy Pham, a senior at Tullahoma High School in Tennessee, the U.S., excellently overcame dozens of talented participants to be the elite representative of Tennessee to participate in the 65th National Finals of Distinguished Young Woman, which is slated to take place on June 2022 along with 49 other competitors from across the country. So far, she has been the first Vietnamese-born female student honoured Distinguished Young Woman of Tennessee.

The mayor of Tullahoma presents a certificate of merit to Amy Pham for her outstanding achievements. (Photo courtesy by the character)

First Vietnamese-born female named on “honorary gold board" after more than 60 years of the programme being held

Amy Pham competed as Cumberland Valley’s Distinguished Young Woman and was one of 17 high school senior girls from Tennessee who competed to represent the state as the Distinguished Young Woman of Tennessee for 2022.

As the result, she was awarded $5,100 in cash scholarships during a statewide scholarship program for rising Tennessee high school senior girls at Lee University Cleveland, Tennessee. In addition, she was also awarded over $110,000 in scholarships to attend the University of Alabama after graduating from high school.

Founded in 1958, Distinguished Young Women is the largest and oldest national scholarship programme for high school girls. This programme inspires high school girls to develop their full, individual potential through a fun, transformative experience that culminates in a celebratory showcase of their accomplishments. It also strives to give young women the opportunity to further their education and prepare for a successful future.

According to the programme's information, Amy Pham is the first Vietnamese-born person to be on the "honorary gold board" after more than 60 years of the programme being held.

During the contest, Amy has always expressed her determination in the process of preparing herself well while participating in class and practising gifted activities to meet the program's high standards.

As shared by Amy's parents, she has represented the state at various public events and serves as a role model to young people of Tennessee by spreading the program’s national outreach message of “Be Your Best Self”, instructing children in learning, giving public speeches or doing community charity.

In 2022, Amy along with 49 other representatives from across the country will travel to Mobile, Alabama to participate in personal development activities and community service projects before competing for the opportunity to become the Distinguished Young Woman of America 2022.

Always remember her root

Amy Pham is the second daughter of Mrs Vivian, a native of Da Nang, and Mr Tuoi Pham, a man from Tam Ky, Quang Nam Province. The family’s now residing in Tullahoma, located in the southeast of the United States. 

As shared by Amy, she is very proud that her parents are Vietnamese, so she always keeps Vietnamese cultural habits such as speaking Vietnamese, wearing ao dai, do daily family activities in Vietnamese style.

On top of that, she even wore ‘ao dai’ whilst performed excellently traditional paper fan dancing to the background of Vietnamese songs in the talent round in a local talent show, which took the audience by surprise.

With a strong Nam O accent, the girl explained why she was born and raised in the US but still spoke Vietnamese fluently. It was because of her grandmother's instruction as she was a child during days her parents worked all day. Therefore, the lifestyle of her grandmother who is a native of Da Nang has a great influence on her life.

She interacts with almost 100% of Americans but still communicates completely in Vietnamese with her family, so she understands and cares about all the family members.

For the time being, Amy hopes the COVID-19 pandemic will come to the end quickly so that she can return to Viet Nam to visit Da Nang’s renowned attractions such as the Marble Mountains, the Linh Ung pagoda, Ba Na Hills and also tried a bunch of delicious dishes such as Quang noodles, rice vermicelli served with anchovy fish sauce and Hue beef noodles.

Especially, her teachers and friends in the U.S. are very excited whenever she teaches them to speak Vietnamese and introduce Vietnamese culture as well as how to make her Fatherland’s signature dishes.

In addition to her good academic performance, the Vietnamese-born girl won the first prize in the local child lawyer contest in grade 9. Therefore, she also dreams of becoming a lawyer in the future to give legal advice to people, especially the overseas Vietnamese community.

Reporting by DUYEN ANH- Translating by T.VY