Submission from Vanna Song

My name is Vanna Song (Smokie). I’ve had an affinity for nonhuman animals ever since I was young and initially wanted to pursue a career with them. I began to explore that option by volunteering at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. I got a chance to learn about all the different animals there and got a chance to get up close and personal with a lot of them from Buckley the Beaver, to our clouded leopards. I also got to have access to the kitchen where food was prepped for the animals as well as the animal hospital which was made to accommodate every type of animal except for the elephants which had to have the hospital brought to them because of their size. There were many areas for me to explore from marine biology to veterinary technician and I had a good time and for a while, I felt working with animals was what I wanted to do. I eventually began thinking about something else which eventually landed me in the Human Services program here at the college. That something else was my own personal history and my country of Cambodia.
In 1975, a radical communist regime known as the Khmer Rouge established themselves as the ruling power of Cambodia. They were led by Pol Pot and a few other men and women who mostly are no longer alive. Their policies were agrarian-based and included abolishing the practice of any religion, any western influences, and of any intellects. The Khmer Rouge were one of the most brutal regimes of the twentieth century and according to the most recent data, about three million or so of my people died from execution, being overworked, famine, and disease such as malaria. They fell in 1979 alright, but they were not inactive. After they retreated in to the jungle, they touched off another thirteen years of civil war against the moderate communist government installed by the Vietnamese. The Khmer Rouge did not lay down their arms and disband until 1998.
Cambodia is now a third-world country and has not recovered much from that time. Landmines are still strewn about the countryside—occasionally maiming people and the government is corrupt. Some of its officials are former Khmer Rouge members such as current Prime Minister, Hun Sen. Currently, there are pretty much no mental health services to help Cambodians cope with the posttraumatic stress from events from 1975 to 1979 (currently, mental health services here in the United States are not designed to help that generation of Cambodians that have settled here in the United States because the United States has never endured anything like the Khmer Rouge regime). Most of the citizens of Cambodia are very poor and cannot afford to send their children to school. Clean water and medical care are virtually impossible to have access to. Human trafficking, drug addiction, and AIDS are prevalent. These are a few of the reasons why I decided to take a break from my animals and explore the Human Services program here at the college. I am the generation of Cambodians born in refugee camps along the Thai Cambodian border during the thirteen-year civil war that touched off after the Khmer Rouge fell in 1979 via invading Vietnamese troops. I would like to go back to Cambodia and help her become independent again like she was for twenty-two years before 1975 and her people get back on their feet and live a normal life like I got to do after I came here. A few things I’d like to do in Cambodia are bring Human Services to the country, give people opportunities for education, and promote using Cambodia’s natural resources to support the country and not rely so much on foreign aid. I can thank my returning to my grassroots of Cambodian music from the 1960s and early 70s, my staying up to date with current events in Cambodia, my acknowledging of that time in history now that I am older, and me not being American-born for steering me in this direction.
Amidst all of this, I have realized one thing: Just because you have liked something ever since you were little, doesn’t mean you want it for a career when you are older. People have loved beaches for a long time, but they end up living on them rather than work on them. Other people have loved animals for a long time too, but chose to pursue a career in computer science instead. I’m not abandoning my animals; it’s just the current state of my country, what she has endured, and my own personal history tugging at my heartstrings. Besides, there are animals in Cambodia I won’t find here such as Siamese crocodiles.