VSA: Appreciating Vietnamese Culture

By Vincent N

Imagine a school club, with a space built for connecting with others, a space for community and appreciation of Vietnamese culture, of which around half of the students are Vietnamese. Wouldn’t that sound nice? Just a little safe space in a school for students to hang out and appreciate Vietnamese culture.

At Yerba Buena High School, a bit less than half of the students are Vietnamese.

With ½ of the school’s 1,722 students being Vietnamese, surely, some sort of group or space would form, and that’s exactly what happened.

Van: “Well, when we’re talking about the YB community, we first should think about the demographics, and it’s pretty close to almost half Vietnamese, half Hispanic, and small percent others. Now for us to be almost half, there has to be some sort of organization or outlet or something for students to get together and share a common interest, and VSA is exactly that. And if there wasn’t VSA, there would certainly be something else to represent the Vietnamese community.”

VSA is a club. It stands for Vietnamese Student Association, made to appreciate and preserve Vietnamese culture here at Yerba Buena High School. Here, we meet one of their advisors, Richard Van. Van is one of the advisors of VSA, where their goal is to promote diversity through appreciating Vietnamese culture, while also creating a place where students can connect with one another and spread spirit around their community and our school.

Van: “So, VSA, Vietnamese Student Association, they strive to promote a cultural diversity through appreciating and preserving Vietnamese culture. They hope to not only share and exhibit Vietnamese culture but also to provide a space for students to build connections and spread spirits with the club, the school, and the community.”

VSA’s goal does not stop at simply preserving Vietnamese culture and creating a safe space for Vietnamese students; they also want to establish a safe space for all students. Anyone can join in—you don’t have to be Vietnamese to join in. It’s open to anybody. So long as they have a sort of good vibe and are willing to do volunteering, various events, and fundraising, they are more than welcome to join Vietnamese Student Association.

Van: “So long as you have good vibes and appreciate the culture and are up for events, like social events, fundraising, community service to give back to the community, VSA is probably that outlet (club).”

VSA, as an idea, was started a long time ago, when Vietnamese refugees started coming over to the US in hopes of a new life, and thus, their children attend schools here.

As time progressed, more Vietnamese came over, and eventually, a space or group was needed to represent them.

Thus, Yerba Buena High’s VSA was formed.

This VSA is like no other, being a community, sort of a family. They try to build a sort of connectedness and community throughout the school.

Van: “VSA is an opportunity, a community—it’s a family. The club officers do their best with their primary goal of building school connectedness. It’s a club where students can come and appreciate Vietnamese culture.”

As of now, VSA is doing pretty well. They’re organized, ambitious, and are setting high expectations.

Van: “They’re pretty ambitious right now. They are organized. I’m part of the emails of the officers organizing stuff together. It’s comprehensive; they cover ideas well-roundedly. There are certain positions in charge of certain things, but when it comes to execution, they all support each other to make it work. I think they’re in a good position. The leadership this year would continue and carry out because right now, they’re setting the bar pretty high.”

VSA, Vietnamese Student Association, is a club all about creating a safe space for appreciating Vietnamese culture, building community around the school, and camaraderie among the entirety of Yerba Buena High School. As of now, the future for YB’s Vietnamese Student Association looks bright.