@Bement My Journey from Cambodia to Bement BY PAGNA SOPHAL DONLEVY, UPPER SCHOOL MATHEMATICS INTERN
Growing up in Cambodia, my family survived without a male figure. My mother raised her six daughters alone after the wars had ended. I am Pagna, her youngest daughter, and this my story. Being the youngest in my family, I had many responsibilities which included babysitting for my four nieces and two nephews, cooking for the family, washing dishes, feeding the pigs, carrying buckets of heavy water on my shoulders from the village to our home, selling items in street fairs, and going to school. I simply loved school, but particularly math. Sitting on our rough wooden floor each evening, I waited for one of my sisters to give me additional math problems to solve. I couldn’t get enough! My father left Cambodia in the 1990s to live in the United States. My family said that I would have a better education and living conditions in the United States, so at 16, I left my home in Cambodia and boarded a plane for Boston. In Cambodia I was a top-ranked student in my 11th grade class, but in Attleboro High School I was placed in 9th grade because I failed the English exam. I was a determined student and studied hard, asking teachers to help me after school. At home, I would lock myself in my room translating each word I read and would hang posters around my room, with English words. On June 8th, 2008, I graduated in the top 5% in my class! My teachers surprised me by awarding me with the coveted “Most Honored Student” award and a check for $2,000 to buy a round trip ticket to visit my mother in Cambodia. I bowed and cried; I felt loved. My teachers encouraged me to apply to college. Growing up in my village in Cambodia, it was rare for a
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girl to graduate from high school, let alone from college. Sadly, most of the girls from my village either dropped out of school in the sixth grade to work in the field or to get married. America has shown me that women have the opportunity of an education and the true freedom to pursue a career. I went onto college and graduated from Wheaton with an independent major entitled Mathematics and Teaching Across Cultures. I was recognized with many awards including The 100 Projects for Peace and a $10,000 check to return to Cambodia and create a math curriculum taught in English. Without my American sponsor family, Bill and Patti Donlevy, I would not be where I am today. I have no wealth to repay their sacrifices, kindness, and love, so I told them I wanted to change my
last name from “Eam” to “Donlevy.” They do not have any children of their own, so I am their child. I think of them as my “Happiness Family.” In May 2013, five days before my graduation, I interviewed with Shelley Jackson, Bement’s head of school. She offered me a math intern position, which included housing, meals, and use of the school van. I was speechless over this wonderful opportunity. I absolutely love teaching and several Bement parents affirmed this recently. At a parent conference night, a mother gave me a supportive and thankful high five, telling me that her child now enjoys doing math homework, and at a Friday morning meeting, a father leaned over and whispered into my ear: “You converted my daughter from hating math to loving math; thank you so much.” I bowed and said thank you with a big smile. My happiness was diminished, however, when just six weeks into my teaching career at Bement, Cambodia experienced severe flooding, which resulted in the evacuation of almost every family in my village, including my own. I showed a photo of my
(left) Mother’s house being rebuilt (top right) Graduation from Attleboro High School (bottom right) Graduation from Wheaton College with my Cambodian sister, Pisey, and my America host family, the Donlevys.