Arn Chorn Pond
Last night Arn Chorn Pond came to Poly to speak wit us about his experiences living through and surviving the Cambodian genocide, his experiences moving to the United States with his adoptive father, and how he came to eventually found the Cambodian Living Arts organization.
Mr. Pond's start to his presentation was a beautiful song on the flute, transitioning wonderfully from the video we had watched about the novel Never Fall Down upon which his story is based. Mr. Pond told us about his childhood; how he and his siblings loved ice cream and rock' n' roll and how full of life his hometown was when he was young.
Mr. Pond also told us the devastating change of reality he had as communist takeover occurred and his family was torn apart and left to starve. He spoke about watching his little brother and sister slowly waste away being overworked and underfed in the harsh agrarian working conditions of rural Cambodia, or more importantly, about how helpless he felt and how deep down he knew he could do nothing to save them.
Arn Chorn Pond spoke candidly with us that night. He delved into his mental health journey and his experiences fighting for survival whether it be in all alone in a jungle or "in the jungle of American high school" as he put it. He spoke about how he learned to cry for the first time with the help of his adoptive father and how he learned to speak out about his story after relentless bullying and lack of understanding from American students he's faced. Pond is overwhelmingly understanding of his past aggressors. He empathizes with the feelings of loneliness so many bullies and even others experience. From an authentic understanding of American kids and culture, he approached us in the audience with a call to empathize with the feelings of loneliness that all too many people face and to find a passion in which we can better understand people and work alongside them.
Mr. Pond's start to his presentation was a beautiful song on the flute, transitioning wonderfully from the video we had watched about the novel Never Fall Down upon which his story is based. Mr. Pond told us about his childhood; how he and his siblings loved ice cream and rock' n' roll and how full of life his hometown was when he was young.
Mr. Pond also told us the devastating change of reality he had as communist takeover occurred and his family was torn apart and left to starve. He spoke about watching his little brother and sister slowly waste away being overworked and underfed in the harsh agrarian working conditions of rural Cambodia, or more importantly, about how helpless he felt and how deep down he knew he could do nothing to save them.
Arn Chorn Pond spoke candidly with us that night. He delved into his mental health journey and his experiences fighting for survival whether it be in all alone in a jungle or "in the jungle of American high school" as he put it. He spoke about how he learned to cry for the first time with the help of his adoptive father and how he learned to speak out about his story after relentless bullying and lack of understanding from American students he's faced. Pond is overwhelmingly understanding of his past aggressors. He empathizes with the feelings of loneliness so many bullies and even others experience. From an authentic understanding of American kids and culture, he approached us in the audience with a call to empathize with the feelings of loneliness that all too many people face and to find a passion in which we can better understand people and work alongside them.
Comments
Post a Comment