Dr Angela with nurse Deanka Presten at Royal Perth Hospital

The ink is still fresh on the paper…I’ve just signed my name for the first time as Dr Angela Nguyen. It feels surreal. Is that really me? It has felt like an epic journey to get to this point, but a voyage I would gladly take again. As a past Ionian (1994 Graduate) Sr Mary asked me to share some of my journey with you and I hope that it will encourage you to set sail on the seas of life. But also to realize all the wonderful people in your lives who help to prepare you for the journey ahead.

My parents decided that we would like to emigrate. We had to leave Vietnam. At the time I was only 3 years old. My brother was 5. My Dad negotiated with a boat owner that we would escape at midnight in a small vessel that was designed to only hold 32 passengers. Dad would navigate the boat and take us to Malaysia. That night, when we arrived at the shore, there were double the number of people! How do you decide who to leave behind? In the end, we all squeezed on board and set off in the night. Dad was navigating and managed to get us beyond the horizon so they could no longer see our land of birth.

I have no recollection of the journey. According to my Mum, we were at sea for 72 hours. There was very little water on board and we were all squeezed in tightly. There were children my age and younger, some travelling without their parents, in the hope that they would have a better life. In some ways, I’m glad I have no memory of that trip. It was an ordeal for everyone on board. On the third day, we developed a leak in the boat and the adults had to start bailing water. People were panicking, children were screaming. I think there was someone above looking out for that tiny vessel, because there was a large Norwegian ship that came to our rescue. They pulled us all out of our boat and shortly after, the vessel sank. The ship then took us to Malaysia where we were taken to Bulau Bidong refugee camp.

There were many Vietnamese families at that refugee camp. Some families had lived there for 2 years, waiting for a country that would take them in. Fortunately for us, my parents could both speak English and had University degrees. They also had two young children, and so we were seen as an asset to many potential countries. Australia in particular was looking to boost its population and was willing to take us. We had offers to go to USA, Japan and Sweden as well, but mum chose Australia because of the warmer climate and that she remembered seeing pictures of kangaroos! So Australia it was!

My family was sponsored by the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Parish in Palmyra who were keen to help with the refugee crisis that was happening at the time. So in Nov 1980, we arrived in Perth, 1 month after setting sail from Vietnam. No one back home could believe that we had already reached another country. It had taken other families at least 6 months, but given my parents background, we were accepted straight away.

So how did I come to be where I am now? After primary school at Our Lady of Fatima, I went on to do 5 years at Iona. I loved my time there. High school for me was a journey into discovering my hidden talents. I got into public speaking, swimming, debating, and mock law trials. If there was a chance to be on the stage, arguing or debating, you would find me there. I did well at school too. Mainly because of my family’s strong work ethic. Mum and Dad really believed in education. They pushed my brother and I to do well, but I also pushed myself because I wanted to see what I could achieve. It was a personal challenge to keep up the high standard. But it also put me under a lot of pressure.

Year 12 was the supposed crunch time. Mum and Dad wanted me to give up all the things I loved to do and concentrate on my studies. But I knew that I couldn’t do that. I had to keep up my creative side. I needed it as a stress-reliever and so I continued to do public speaking and debating throughout Year 12. I’m so glad now that I kept up with those activities because they gave me a lot of personal confidence. But it didn’t come naturally. I had to practice at feeling confident until it felt natural. It was nerve wracking but exhilarating at the same time.

I still get a kick out of coming up with a speech on the spot that wows the audience. Every speech is unique, an expression of the individual, and that was what I was learning to do, to express myself.

The TEE was pretty stressful. But not as much as everyone made it out to be. There was so much hype around it, and it was made out to be the be all and end all, when really it was just another stepping stone. They are important exams, but the world doesn’t end with the TEE. Life does go on and if you don’t do as well as you hoped in the exams, there are so many different ways to pursue your dreams. That’s something I’ve come to realize and I wish someone had pointed that out to me earlier. But when you’re in the midst of it, it’s hard to get a proper perspective.

After Year 12, I went on to Uni at UWA. I actually wanted to do Law, and had just missed out on the marks to get into Medicine, which is what my parents wanted me to do. They thought that Medicine would offer more stability and a better career than Law, whereas I wanted to use my public speaking and debating skills in Law. After much debate, I decided to do Science and try and transfer across to Medicine. I worked really hard that year and topped many of my units in first year science and was able to transfer across to Medicine.

I should have been happy, but I was not. For many years I’ve struggled with my decision to do Medicine. I didn’t feel it was using my talents and I was quite bored. First year Medicine was even more basic than my first year of Science. I had worked so hard to get into Medicine, that I went on cruise control for a while. She’ll be right I thought. I’d always done well hadn’t I? But I’d forgotten how much work I had put in to get there.

Inevitably I failed my second year. I want to share this with you because the lessons I’ve learnt from failing have been enormous. I was so ashamed that I had failed. Here was I, always a top student, now a failure. My self-esteem and identity took a major beating. Who was I now? I had to repeat 2nd year and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I had to sit through the same lectures. I had to put up with gossip and people

talking about me. I had to piece together my self-esteem and form a new identity, and I still had to get through the year. Throughout it all, my parents and brother supported me, even though many times I acted out with them. They loved me unconditionally, but at the time I was not in a place to really appreciate it.

Many of my so-called friends deserted me that year and that was a very powerful lesson. I learnt the meaning of real friendship and have since worked out whom to trust and rely on. I learnt that not everyone is your friend. Most people are acquaintances and it’s only a few special people whom you can actually call friends. They’re the ones who stick by you through the good times, and the difficult times, and love and accept you just as you are.

I managed to get through that year and even now, I’m surprised that I survived it. I believe we find enormous strength and courage in ourselves when we need to but I couldn’t have done it alone. The next few years were a bit smoother but I still struggled with finding direction. I felt I wasn’t as passionate about Medicine as my peers and that worried me. Medicine is a life choice, not just a career, and I didn’t want to be doing something I didn’t love.

But then we started going into the hospitals. I started seeing patients and finally understanding why we were studying what we were studying. It was starting to fall into place. I discovered that I do like working with people; that I have a very big desire to help others and to make them well; that I like to deal not just with a person’s illness, but their spiritual and emotional side. I get excited about being with people and coming away feeling that I’ve helped in some small way. These realizations have helped me enormously because I’ve realized that I’m in the right profession to help people in the way that I would like.

Angela with her family on her graduation day

I graduated from Medicine 1 week ago. It’s been a long journey, but one that has taught me a lot about myself and life in general. The doors are now flung wide open. Anything is possible. I may practice Medicine for the rest of my life, or I may find other things that take my interest. But the brilliant thing is that I get to choose my destination and sail there. It’s a big adventure and I’m very excited.

I want to thank my family, friends, teachers and mentors who have supported me on this journey. They helped to build my ship and fortified it with love and that has made my journey all the richer.

I wish you well in your studies. I hope that my journey will inspire you to dig deep and explore your many talents and go out there and set your own course and adventure. Just remember two things, you don’t have to do it all on your own, and remember to enjoy the journey. There will be rough spots but you can get through those patches and come out of it much stronger. Just keep believing in yourself. You can do it.

The Journey