Amanda Nguyễn – cô ấy là ai?

 “… một nhân vật trẻ gốc Việt duy nhất được đề cử giải Nobel Hòa Bình.”

Amanda Nguyễn, 28 tuổi, là một hiện tượng của cộng đồng người Việt. Cô là một nhân vật trẻ gốc Việt duy nhất được đề cử giải Nobel Hòa Bình; nhận giải Heinz Award trị giá 250.000 USD; được chọn vào danh sách 100 nhân vậ̣t ảnh hưởng tương lai toàn cầu; có mặt trong danh sách 30 nhân vật xuất chúng dưới 30 tuổi; 100 nhân vật đối ngoại xuất chúng; được trao giải Nelson Mandela; giải Lãnh đạo Thế Giới; giải Phụ Nữ Trẻ, và nhiều giải thưởng vinh dự toàn quốc.

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Cô là người gốc Việt duy nhất soạn thảo và thúc đẩy bộ luật đặc biệt Quyền lợi của Nạn Nhân Bị Cưỡng Hiếp (Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act). Bộ luật này nhận được chấp thuận toàn diện từ liên bang, trong đó có 437 dân biểu, 100 thượng nghị sĩ, và sau cùng là Tổng thống. Sau đó, cô vận động từng tiểu bang, qua 32 tiểu bang, để được chính quyền từng tiểu bang chấp thuận. Bộ luật này có ảnh hưởng hỗ trợ hơn 85 triệu người. Không ngừng ở đó, cô là nhà sáng lập và cũng là tổng giám đốc của Rise Now, một tổ chức khởi nghiệp cho những cơ quan-tổ chức quan tâm về vấn đề xã hội. Tổ chức này giúp những ai muốn đẩy vấn đề xã hội mà họ quan tâm qua những ngõ ngách phức tạp để trở thành luật. Rise Now được sự hỗ trợ tài chính của các nhân vật có khả năng tài chính nhất hành tinh, trong đó có ông Mark Zuckerberg và ông Bill Gates.

Nhiều nhà lãnh đạo hàng đầu trên thế giới quan tâm về nhân quyền đã mời Amanda Nguyễn làm cố vấn và diễn giả về những vấn đề nhân quyền cho phụ nữ. Những nhân vật sáng giá nhất, từ các chính trị gia thượng thặng, tỉ phú, thủ tướng, hoàng gia, đến những người nổi tiếng trên màn ảnh, âm nhạc, nghệ thuật, đều muốn có sự liên hệ với cô. Cô đã được mời phỏng vấn trên các talk show nổi tiếng và là khách danh dự tham dự những sự kiện lớn như chương trình Oscar và Emmy.”

 Amanda Nguyen - A Vietnamese Phenomenon !

Amanda Nguyen, a 29 years old woman, is a worldwide phenomenon, and in particular, of the Vietnamese community. She is a daughter of Vietnamese refugees, Civil Right Austronaut, and a Rape survivor. She is the only Vietnamese American nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and received a $250.000 Heinz Award. She was selected into Forbes 30 Under 30, Top 100 Global Thinkers, Top 100 Foreign Policy,  Nelson Mandela Changemaker award, Global Leadership Award, Young Woman Award, and many other notable honors.

She was the only Vietnamese American to create , and push for a comprehensive federal law,  the 21st bill in modern U.S. history with 437 Representatives, 100 senators, and the US President to unanimously pass the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act. She got the law passed in 32 States so far, lobbying one State at a time. This series of laws helps more than 85 million people.

She founded and ran a powerful non-profit organization called  Rise Now, a social entrepreneur incubator for organizations pushing their own social agenda. Her organization helps them to navigate through the web of political and legal complexity to get  their social issues into law. Rise Now has the financial support of some of the planet's most wealthy figures, including Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.

Many of the world's leading leaders interested in human rights asked Amanda Nguyen to be their advisor or to speak on social issues. She is a young influencer thanks to her work and her reputation among top politicians, billionaires, prime ministers, royals, celebrities. She was invited to many national talk shows numerous times, and was invited as honored guest to Oscar and Emmy programs.

Amanda Nguyen Before University Graduation

Amanda was born in October 1991, the only child from  her parents, Tăng Ngọc Lan and Nguyễn Minh Tú. From a young age, she displayed enormous intelligence, energy, and a compassionate heart. Her mother recounted that since she was pregnant, she whispered her wishes into her womb with high hope and great aspirations.

To understand Amanda, one has to know about her mom, who gave up her good job to nurture her and shape her characters. Amanda's mom is socially involved. Wherever there is a need, she's there. She is beautiful and elegant outside but you would be caught by surprise how much love she has for humanity, to the point, she forgets her own pain to alleviate pains for others. There are stories she shared that make me think of the heart of Mother Teresa in her.

Amanda's mom was born in Bạc Liêu. Traditionally, during her era, girls, especially beautiful ones, would get married early and tend to household chores, but not Amanda's mom. After finishing high school, she asked her parents to let her to go to Sài Gòn to study law at Vạn Hạnh University. Her dad was open and let her go. In Sài Gòn, besides working to get money to pay for her own study and to send home, she spent all her time taking care of the orphans, washing, comping, clipping nails, etc.. She went around Sài Gòn to pick orphans on the street to bring back. Many of those kids got transported out of Vietnam through the famous Operation BabyLift. She shared with me touching stories and how the orphans, now adults, came back to her to thank her. Each story she shared is a beautiful life lesson.

When Amanda was born, she did not cry, but courageously looked at life with curious eyes. Amanda showed her courage and will power throughout her journey. Beginning with 1st grade, she was already out there doing public speaking and assumed many leadership roles throughout her school years. She volunteered a lot. In one interview, she said she volunteered to gain more life experience, help and understand more than what people need, so that she can help at different levels in the future. She volunteered at her  home when her mom brought back sick people home, hospitals, political offices, and in school. She fundraised for the Vietnamese American Cancer Society of Dr. Bich Lien. The volunteer experience helped her to better formula her future path and thickened her resolve.

During high school, Amanda Nguyen joined Future Business Leaders of America(FBLA). She  was elected California Chapter President for the 2008-2009 term. The FBLA is the largest and most influential global organization for High School students in business. Being selected as  FBLA President for the largest state in America at the age of 16 proved her leadership, knowledge, and maturity.

She graduated Valedictorian  from Centennial high school, Corona, CA in 2009. Top universities including Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Berkeley, UPenn, etc. all asked her to come. She chose to study at Harvard, dual majoring in government and astrophysics. Harvard was her dream school for a long time.  In her room, there was a small blackboard with her writing on it, to remind her to be disciplined with herself in order to get to Harvard. Every morning she woke up facing the reminder on the blackboard.

During her undergraduate study at Harvard, she has created an unbelievable amount of work.  She made her name in Harvard history, creating  the first student-written course in Harvard history. Her thoughtful college essay was selected in the top 50 Harvard Admission Essay Book. At the age of 19, she went to Bangladesh, a place where bathrooms did not exist. She had to go to the wild for those needs. There, she was determined to bring to justice  a man who killed a Bangladeshi niece after she was raped. Despite personal danger,  local custom and language barrier, she prevailed.

She  co-founded Wema Orphanage in Kenya, Africa, housing 500 orphans. She interned for NASA tracking Tracked near-earth objects, calculating their magnitudes, diameter, and orbital mechanics, and Produced a new social media strategy and platform targeted at the 18-24 year old demographic to increase NASA outreach

She was selected as Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysics Fellow working with a top professor there to identify planetary candidates. While interning at the White House, she was selected as one  the leaders of the student intern groups. Impressively, a non-finance major among many candidates in the finance field,  she was selected to work as summer Analyst at Morgan Stanley. She graduated in June 2013. That year, a terrible event happened to her life. It completely changed her trajectory.

Amanda always possesses an unconditional love and gratitude for her parents. She always remembers her Vietnamese roots. As matter of fact, she practiced Vietnamese writing herself. Her mom vividly remembers that day. September 6, 2011. The parents were invited to visit the White House, when she was freshly accepted as a student intern. Out of nowhere, she asked her parents to wait for her. A moment later, she handed her parents a letter written in Vietnamese on the White House stationary, thanking her parents for taking care of her. The last part she wrote: There is not a day I  don't thank God for blessing me.  There is no one more happy than I am when I make you proud. I love both of you very much. Amanda"

Amanda Nguyen' many miraculous accomplishments are the results of  who she is: Broad and deep views of life, love for her work, unwavering stand for justice,  continuously pushing herself to be better prepared for her role, but most important is her steely determination to reach the impossibility and overcome the limitations of ordinary people, on the foundational characters built by her parents' unconditional love and sacrifice.

Thanks to the volunteer work and experience in her early life, she was much more mature than her average peers. She didn't waste time. When she was 16 years old, she  had a heart disorder (supraventricular Tachycardia). Her heart could stop any time. She had to wear a pacemaker and had to sit in a wheelchair for many months. That did not deter her from her dreams. During the heart surgery, the surgeon asked her what she wanted to say before the anesthesia. In a firm voice and bright face, she said: "I have to live". Everyone in the operating room laughed. Thanks to her boundless optimism and determination, she not only lived, but also lightened up many millions of people.

Southern California, August 25

@theNewViet

(Dam Ho chuyển)