CHAPTER7

ChallengeatMIT

Survivalofthefittest!

The summer of 1956 marked the most challenging milestone of myacademic life.DuringmysenioryearatLafayetteCollege inPennsylvania, Ihadapplied for fellowship from the Ivy League schools and participated in the TauBetaPi(EngineeringHonorarySociety)competitionforfinancialassistance.Theitle of the essay contest was “The role of Union and Management in aorportc ation.”

Theunexpectedbreakingnews appeared inTheNewYorkTimes Sundayune3,1956.(seeinsert)ItannouncedmywinningoneofthefiveUSFellowships

taPitostudyatMITforaMaster’sdegreeinMechanicalEngineering.JfromTauBe

TauBetaPi”Tau Beta Piwas founded in 1885 tomark in a fittingmanner thosewho haveconferredhonorupontheiralmamaterbydistinguishedscholarshipandexemplarycharacterasundergraduatesinthefieldofengineering,orbytheirattainmentsasalumni in the field of engineering, and to foster a spirit of liberal culture in theengineeringcolleges.”

186 EAST meets WEST

Sunday,June3,1956

YorkTimes.”

SundayJune3,1956SpecialtotheNewASTON,Pa.June2“E

“AVietnamesestudentatLafayetteCollegehaswona fellowshiptoMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,thecollegesaidlastweek.HeisDieuHuuKhuong,asenior.He ranks first inhis fieldof study,althoughhehashad toworkhisway throughcollege.HewillreceiveaBachelorofSciencedegree inmechanicalengineeringatLafayette’s commencement Thursday. He won one of the five Tau Beta PiAssociationfellowships.ItwillenablehimtostudyatM.I.T.foraMaster’sdegreein

gineering.AfterthatheplanstoreturntoVietnamtoworkthere.”mechanicalenTheEastonExJUNE2,1956

press

Challenge at MIT 187

TheEastonExpress

Easton,PA‐June2,1956

“AsianStudentGetsGrantforGraduateWork”

188 EAST meets WEST

“AVietnamesestudent,whoranksfirstinthefieldofhisstudyatLafayetteCollege,aswonafellowshipatMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,Prof.FrankR.Hunt,eanofstudentsatthecollege,announcedtoday.hdTherecipientofthefellowshipDieuHuuKhuongenteredLafayettein1952.Hewillreceive a degree of Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering atcommencementofthecollegeonJune7.Hewillbegraduatedwithhonor,andwillstudy at MIT for a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering. ThefellowshipKhuongreceivedwasgivenbyTauBetaPiAssociation.Itprovidedforagrantof$1200forthe1956‐57academicyear.Khuongwasoneoffivestudents intheUnitedStatestoreceivesuchanaward.Preparing forcollegeattheLyceeYersin, inDalat,VietNam,Khuongcame totheUnitedStatesin1952underpublicLaw402.HewassupportedforoneyearbytheU.S. Office of Information and Educational Exchange, with traveling expensesprovidedbyaFulbrightaward.Sincegovernmentsupportendedafterhisfirstyearin college, Khuong has supported himself by summer employment and part‐timeworkduringthecollegeyear.Healsoreceivedsomefinancialaidfromthecollege.Heranks in the top8percentof thisyear’sgraduatingclassand firstamong themechanical engineering graduates.Although his studies andwork took upmuchtime,hehasbeenactiveincampusaffairs.HeisamemberoftheCosmopolitanClub,International Affairs Association and student branch of the American Society ofMechanicalEngineering,andhasparticipated in intramural sports.HehasbeenelectedamemberofTauBetaPi,honoraryengineeringsociety.Duringhisstay inaston, he addressed numerous groups in the area on the problems of theietnamese.EVAfterheobtainedtheMaster’sdegree,Khuongplanstoreturntohishome inSud‐ietNamtoworkandteachinthefieldofengineering.”V

Challenge at MIT 189

2011,MIT150thanniversary

Concurrently,IhadfellowshipoffersfromCornell,Columbia,Yale,Michigan

StateandPrincetonuniversities forgraduatework.Tobe fair toothergraduatetudent applicants, I immediately sent telegrams to the above schools to thankhembst utstatingIcouldnotaccepttheirrewards.

It was one of the happiest moments of my life because, not that muchearlier I had started with great difficulty the undergraduate study throughImmersioninEnglishinPennsylvania.StartingmystudyintheUSwithonlymybaggage of French and Vietnamese languages was the scariest experiment. Ofcourse, the greatest rewardwas finishing first inMechanical Engineering classleading to the fellowship formy graduate study atMIT. Truly,Americawas theLandofOpportunity. The tough part ofmy undergraduate lifewas over. ThankGod, with a full fellowship, I did not have to do non‐school work to meet myfinancialneedsbutcoulddevotefulltimeandenergytostudy.

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Right after receiving my “sheep skin” (in my days, a diploma was reallymadeofsheepskin,notpaper)fromthehandofVicePresidentRichardNixon,thecommencement speaker at Lafayette College, I moved immediately to the MITcampusinCambridgeviathePennsylvaniaRailroad.Ididnotwasteanytimeformy next objective. With a new invigorating gung‐ho spirit, I had to finish myMaster’sdegreeonschedule fixedby thedonororganization.Themostefficientandpragmaticsolutionwas tocheck inrightawayat theMITcampusGraduateHouse.Notimeshouldbewastedsearchingforadecentroominthenewcity. Ihared a room with two American graduate students, Bauer and Wilson. Theamarsc aderiewasaplaceboforloneliness.

Myfirstquestionwaswhyandhowthisschoolbecamesochallengingandso hard to get accepted to become one of its student? Because MIT graduateswereamongthehighestearnersamongallcollegesandengineeringschools.Also,according to the Institute, 76 “present and former members of the MITcommunityhadwontheNobelPrize.”Iwasveryworriedandfeltintimidatedbythe school’s reputation. A lack of self confidence and an inferiority complexstartedtobuildupinmysubconscience.WhatIfIfailed?WhatifIcouldnotfinishon schedule? The fear of failure made many of my demanding sacrifices lessainful.Ihadtospeedupmyorientationandintegrationintothenewcampuslife,ndlepa arnedalotfromtheoldtimers.

Thefirstimpressionofthecampuswasverygratifying.Fromthewindowofy room in the Graduate house, (photo below) I saw two modern buildingscrossthestreet:TheKresgeAuditoriumandtheMITchapel.ma

TheGraduateHouse

Challenge at MIT 191

Myroomwasonthethirdfloorontheothersideofthisfaçade

TheKresgeAuditorium

TheKresgeAuditorium

The sightwas strikingwith the elegant thin shell structure of reinforcedconcrete,one‐eighthofasphere,slicedawaybysheerglasscurtainwallssothatitcould come to earth at only three small points. Thin shell technology wasinnovativeforthetimes.ItwasdesignedbynotedFinnisharchitectEeroSaarinenand dedicated in 1955. Saarinen designed it in tandem with his MIT Chapel.

192 EAST meets WEST

The two buildingswere separated by a "green," referred to by students as the"KresgeOval."

TheMITchapel

ThisMITChapelwasanon‐denominationalchapel

Thewhitemarblealtarwasdesignedformulti‐religionservices.Itcouldbe

lowered,rearrangedandredecoratedforthenextreligiousservice.Theensemble

Challenge at MIT 193

wasrecognizedasoneofthebestexamplesofmid‐CenturymodernarchitecturentheUS.i

StataCenterforComputer,Information,andIntelligenceSciences

SimmonsHall

Some of the buildings were just absolutely awesome (the Dome inparticularwasaterrificsightonabeautifulday,especiallyacrossfromMemorialDrive).Someofthemwereweird:Simmons,Stata,(Seephotos.)Butatleastthey

194 EAST meets WEST

ept them interestingandwedidnothaveboring little redbrickbuildings thatreallindistinguishablefromeachother.ka

WhatweretheacademicslikeatMIT?ThebestthingaboutMITwasprobablytheacademics.AneducationatMITcould easily be considered one of the most intense and rewarding of anyinstitution in the world. The classes here were all tough, and it was a newexperience for a lot of students. They may be used to receive all A's in theirpreviousschoolsbutnowatMITtheAratingscouldnolongerbeachievedeasily.Theresultsweresuddenlyabout50%lowerinexamsonsubjectstheyhadbeenquite familiar with. Like everybody else, I learned to adapt myself to the MITstandardsandtheacademicspushedmetoreachmyhigherpotentials.Everyonewassmart,andthe jokestheytoldrequiredahighbaselineofknowledge,but itwasfun.Themostfrequentstudentcomplaintswereaboutthelackofsleepfromworking all night on problem sets. Although there were a lot of really smartstudentsatMIT,moststudentsweregarden‐varietysmartandhard‐working.YouefinitelyhadtobesmarttogetintoMIT,butyoudidn'tneedtobesomesortoftherwdo orldlygenius.

While I was in Vietnam, my obsession was to study at the famous ParisGrandes Écoles (Polytechnique, École Centrale, Supelec, HEC [Hautes ÉtudesCommerciales], ENA [Ecole Nationale d’Administration, ENS [École NormaleSupérieure] and theÉcolesdesMines,)whoseAlumni ranFrance’s governmentand practicallymost of the great corporations and agencies of France and VietNam. In theGrandesÉcoles of France, the competitionwas very great but onlymongFrenchorformerFrenchEmpirestudents.Theywerenationalinstitutionsorhigaf hereducationinFrance.

MITwasaglobalinstitution.Ihadtocompetewiththetopstudentsofthewholeworld.Thisperceptionalonecontinuedtobothermealot.Itforcedmetobe all I could to survive. By analogy, I put myself in the competitive mode ofathletesintheOlympicGamesduringmyacademicyearsatMIT.ThankGod,withthefullfellowship,therewasnonon‐schoolworktobedonetomeetmyfinancialneeds. But here again, I felt like a tennis champion in a local club going to thechallengeof theprestigiousUSOpen!The firstcontactwithMITacademicswasmy registration and selection of courses in the Department of MechanicalEngineering called Course 2. MIT students referred to both their majors andclassesusingnumbersoracronymsalone.Departmentsandtheircorrespondingmajorswerenumberedintheapproximateorderoftheirfoundation;forexample,

Challenge at MIT 195

Civil and Environmental Engineering was Course I, while Nuclear Science &Engineering was Course XXII. Students majoring in Electrical Engineering andComputer Science, the most popular department, collectively identifiedthemselvesas"CourseVI."MITstudentsusedacombinationofthedepartment'scoursenumberandthenumberassignedtotheclasstoidentifytheirsubjects;theoursewhichmanyAmericanuniversitieswoulddesignateas"Physics101"was,tMIT sca , imply"8.01.”

I was looking for courses adapted to the needs of Vietnam, a developingcountry.For instance, theywereVentilatingandAirConditioning,Refrigeration,InternalCombustionEngines,Foundry…Tomybigsurprise,IwastoldthatthosecourseswerenolongertaughtatMIT.Thelabhadjustremovedtheequipmentofthose conventional courses and replaced themwith high tech supersonicwindtunnel,shocktubes,etc…Ihadtoselectthenewhigh‐techcoursesformydegree.Iad to learn the high‐tech thinking process rather than taking conventionaloursehc s.Iaskedmyselfhowtogetoutofthisplaceontime.

For Mechanical Engineering, it was a privilege to study AdvancedThermodynamics with Professor Joseph H. Keenan, world famous for histextbooks on Thermodynamics, Gas and Steam Tables. They had been usedextensively indesignandengineeringworkrelatedto jetandrocketpropulsionandgasturbines.Hewasaverypopularteacher.Ourclasshadevenachancetobeinvitedtohishome.Hishomeofficedeskwassurroundedbynothingbutthefour white wall bookshelves. I was surprised to learn that he earned only abachelor's degree in naval architecture and marine engineering at theassachusettsInstituteofTechnologyM

Pin1922.MostDepartmentheadshadtheir

h.D.orSc.D.Onlyageniusdeservedexception.

My next course was advanced Refrigeration, Cryogenics with ProfessorSamuel C. Collins, internationally known as the father of practical heliumliquefiers and founder of the MIT Cryogenic Engineering Laboratory. DuringWWII, Dr. Collins developed an airborne oxygen generator for the flyingfortresses,producinghighpurityoxygen.Hewasalsoknownfordeveloping‐ incollaborationwithasurgeonattheVeteransHospitalinWestRoxbury,asuburbf Boston ‐ a compact heart‐lungmachine. The device, completed in 1964,wasmall uos eno ghtofitintothetrunkofacar.

My academic adviser helped me fulfill my Master’s Degree requirementswith turbomachinery, advancedmetallurgy, hydropower, andpumped storagecourses.The thesisworkwason flamestabilityata supersonicspeed.With theacademicprogramapproved forCourse2,mynext step appeared very clear. It

196 EAST meets WEST

would be again 10% inspiration and90%perspiration. I haddone this once inPennsylvaniaviaIMMERSION.ThistimeIwasconvincedthatthesamehardworkwithpassion,persistenceandpatiencewouldcarryme through therough time.Myclassmatesdidtheirhomeworkwithatypewriter.Duringallmystudentlife,Ihad to use my hand writing only. It was the same way for all the students inVietnam.Withmy thesiswork, theDepartment tookcareofmy typingwith thehelp of a very competent secretary, Loulou Bernier. Therewere some pleasantoments to discuss thesis project work with her at the Du Barry FrenchestaurantacrosstheCharlesRiver.mr

WithmythesisassistantLoulouBernier,MIT1957

The tense moment for my final exam was at last over with my Master’sthesisapprovedbyProfessorWhite,mysupervisor. IwastoldbyDepartment2that Imet all the requirements formy graduation. ThankGod.What a relief totake a gooddeepbreath andwait for the great day. Itwould be the endofmyformalacademiclifeafter17yearsofsweat,tearsandjoy.

GraduationDayLoneliness

GraduationdayatMIT

Challenge at MIT 197

Normally, graduation should be a joyful celebration day. Unfortunately, itwas one of the loneliest days of my seven years away from home. Among thejoyfulcrowd,Ijustsatthereimpassiveintheopenairspace,infrontoftheKillianCourtDomeinthemidstofcheerfulfuturegraduateswearingourblackuniforms.Icouldnotfindanyrelativeorlongtimefriendtojoinmeandsharethisgreatestdayofmyacademiclife.Thousandsofstudentswerewhoopingandholleringandgenerally having a great time. Everyonebutmewhowas sad, very sad. Tome,feeling so lonely at such an outstanding event, nothing about this graduationceremony seemed celebratory. I sat there lonely among the big crowdwaitingimpatientlyformyturntopickupthediploma.ThenIwentbacktomyroomnotojoinanyjoyfulpartybuttopackupformytriptoNewYorkCityandbeginmyewjotn bthere.

But being an optimist, there was no time for me to cry on this specialoccasion. Quickly, I was able to turnmy thoughts to somethingmore positive:cheersinsteadoftears!WhenIwasattheFrenchLycéeYersininDalat,Ialwayshad a dream to someday graduate from themost prestigious school in France:École Polytechnique de Paris. Now, fortunately my dream did come true evenbetterthanwhatIhadhopedfor.FromtherecentinformationgivenbytheÉcolePolytechniqueitself,thisFrenchschoolranks36thintheworldclassificationwhileMITtopsthelistasfirst.Furthermore,afterWWII,Englishhadgraduallyemergedas the international language in this increasingly competitive world. AfterLafayetteCollegeandMIT,notonlydid I learnMechanicalEngineeringbutalso

198 EAST meets WEST

acquired a solid knowledge of English. If I were from Polytechnique de Paris,Frenchwouldnothavebeenasusefulandhelpful formyprofessionalactivitiesndcareerbothinVietnamandlaterduringthefollowing40yearsofmylife inmerica.

aA

QSWorldUniversity ankings®2012/17R

Thebestuniversitiesintheworld

Institution 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology

1 1 1 1 1

HarvardUniversity 3 2 4 2 3

StanfordUniversity

15 7 7 3 2

UniversityofCambridge

2 3 2 3 4

CaliforniaInstituteofTechnology

10 10 8 5 5

UniversityofOxford

5 6 5 6 6

UniversityCollegeLondon

4 4 5 7 7

Challenge at MIT 199

Institution 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

ImperialCollegeLondon

6 5 2 8 9

EcoleNormaleSupérieure

34 28 24 23 33

SeoulNationalUniversity

37 35 31 36 35

UniversityofBristol

28 30 29 37 41

KyotoUniversity 35 35 36 38 37

TheUniversityofTokyo

30 32 31 39 34

EcolePolytechnique

41 41 35 40 53

NobelPrizeWinnersByCountry

Rank Country Nobe izeslPr

1 UnitedStates 3532 UnitedKingdom 1253 Germany 1054 France 61

OfficeoftheProvost:NobelprizeatMIT:85

200 EAST meets WEST

Asof2015,52NationalMedalofSciencerecipients,65MarshallScholars,45 Rhodes Scholars, 38 MacArthur Fellows, 34 astronauts, 19 Turing awardwinners,16ChiefScientistsoftheU.S.AirForceand6FieldsMedalistshavebeenaffiliated with MIT. The school has a strong entrepreneurial culture, and theaggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT alumni would rank as theeleventh‐largesteconomyintheworld.

Wh g?yIsMITSoStron

Averystrongbudget

OperatingExpenditures(inMillions)*

FiscalYear2015

Thebudgetforresearchismorethan2billionsdollarsayear!

Challenge at MIT 201

OperatingRevenues(inMillions)*

FiscalYear2015Total:$3,290.8

Researchrevenuesmorethan1.5billionsdollarsayear!

Reminiscing about my MIT years some six decades ago, I cannot refrainfrom finding out howmy old school has now become theworld #1. Currently,over700companiesareworkingwithMITfacultyandstudentsbothinInstitute‐wideprogramsorinsmallercollaborations.AmongthesecorporatesponsorsaresuchgloballeadersasBAE,BP,DuPont,ENI,FordMotor,Google,Intel,LockheedMartin, Novartis, Quanta Computer, Raytheon, Samsung, Sanofi, Shell, Siemens,and TOTAL… Research sponsored directly by industry totaled $133 million infiscal year 2012, or 20 percent of all MIT research funding. According to theNational Science Foundation,MIT ranks first in industry‐financed research anddevelopmentanddevelopmentexpendituresamongalluniversitiesandcolleges.This great name school with the largest fund for research and developmentobviously attracts the best talents of the world. “The rich gets richer” and the

202 EAST meets WEST

stronggetsstronger.Ifeelproudofmyschooltoknowthat,inmylifetime,Isawmany talented alumni such asKofiAnnan, BenjaminNetanyahu,BenBernanke,Alfred Sloan,PaulKrugman,JosephStiglitz,GeorgeShultz,MarioDraghi,Nicholasegro onte,IMPei,LawrenceSummers,JohnSununu…

p

N

SummaryofAcademicJourney

Indeed,MITwasan important landmark inmy life.Thecompletionof the

post‐graduatemaster'sdegree inMechanicalEngineeringtherealsomarkedtheendofmystudentdaysandacademiclife.Atthetimeinthe1950s,itwasalsothereatest challenge and achievement for the schoolboy from Mỹ Tho, in thearawagf yMekongDelta.

That evening aftermy graduation ceremony, I sat alone inmy room andtriedtounderstandwhatjusthadhappenedtome.Allkindsofmemoriesflashedbacktomymind.Mythoughtsfirstwenttomybelovedparents,siblings,relativesandfriendsinMỹTho,mychildhooddaysintheMekongDelta,andtheverylongjourneyfromoneschooltoanotherandeventuallytothegraduationatMIT.Manypeoplehad toldme that their studentdayswere thebest timesof their lives. Itwas also true in away forme, a little boy from theMekongDelta, growing upunderFrenchcolonialrulebutfortunateenoughtobeinawell‐to‐dofamilywithhardworkingparentsinsuccessfulbusinessactivities.TheydidtrytogivemethebestpossibleeducationthroughprimaryandsecondaryschoolsinmyhometownofMỹThothentheprestigiousLycéeYersininDalat.Again,by"fateanddestiny"andwith thehelpofUSIS, Ihadmyowntwowings formy"Flightof theEagle"fromtheMekongDeltatoMassachusetts,USA.Ididnothavetopinchmyselfbutit seemed somewhat "unreal" even in the wildest dream of any Vietnameseyoungsterinthe1950s!Therefore,thegraduationdayatMITwasthelastdayofmylongacademicjourneyinbothtimeandspace.Beforejoiningtherough,toughndmeanworldofbusinessinNewYorkCity,Iwantedtohaveatotalviewofmyphillau andchallengingroadtothesummitofthemountain.

Itwasthroughlotsofsweatandtearsbuttheresultsweremorethangood.Besides my continued and painful efforts there were many unpredictableelementsaswellwhichcouldonlycomebyfateanddestiny.Ialwaysstartedasahandicappedrunnerintheoldfivestagesofthismarathon:primary,juniorhigh,highschool,collegeanduniversitystages.IbeganmyfirstyearofschoolingintheverysmallvillageofRạchMiếu,ontheoppositesideoftheMekongRiverbytheMỹ Tho ferry boat. The schoolwas a little thatch roofwooden shelter built oncompactedsoil.Myparentsrealizedthat Ihadno future in thatmiserableplace

Challenge at MIT 203

andtransferredmetotheMỹThopublicprimaryschool.Ifinishedthisfirststage,lostincognitoamongthecrowd.Then,IhadtotakeacompetitiveentranceexamtoMỹThojuniorhigh.ItwasafirstscarychallengebecauseifIcouldnotmakeit,therewasnoacceptableprivate school inmyhometown. Somehowmyparentsconvinced me that a good education was indispensable and important for myuture.InVietnamesesociety,thescholarisrankedthehighestclass,nextcomeshefarft mer,thentheartisanandlastthemerchant.

Many of my close friends and relatives would like to know about theacademiclifeoftwinsbecausetheyknowIhaveatwinbrother.Veryquickly,inanutshell, IcansaythatbothofusstartedwiththesameFrenchEmpirecolonialschool system.Likemanykids,wedidall sortsofpranksandweoftengot intofights with other boys. Whenever there was a fight at school, both of usautomatically beat the other common enemy. It happened that we came outvictoriouseverytimeandthatwasenoughtostopfutureprovocationorfighting.ItwasatMỹThojuniorhighschoolthatIbecamemoreconsciousaboutachievingacademicsuccess.Anditwasaboutacademicperformancethatmademebelievetherewassomethingmeanorignorantaboutpeoplewhentheythinkaboutchildpsychologyinthosedays.Becauseweweretwins,peopleoftenasked:”Howcomeyouarebothfromthesamegeneandtheotherhalfwasbetter?”Thismademefeelevenmoreconsciousandawareofemulationand/orcompetition.

MytwinQuíontheleftandmeinfrontofMITchapelJune,1956

204 EAST meets WEST

Withmy savings, I boughtmy twina ticketwithHollandAmericaLine toisitMv IT.

Sitting there in my room after the MIT graduation ceremony andruminatingabout theupsanddownsofmyacademic life, Ihad toadmit itwassheerfateanddestinythatIwasabletopasstheFrenchBaccalaureatewiththerare"mentionbien"atthetimewhichturnedouttobethekeytomy"BlackBox"formy"FlightoftheEagle"toAmerica.ItwassomethingunbelievablebuttrueforthelittleguyfromtheMekongDeltatoobtainhisMaster'sdegreeinMechanicalngineering at the prestigious MIT. It must be some sort of a miracle but notithou

Ew tsweatandtears!

Irememberedwell theFrenchsystemfortheBaccalaureate.I finishedmyFrench baccalaureate in Dalatwith “mention bien”, the only one in six years atYersin. IwasvaledictorianandearnedTheGrandHonorPrize fromtheKingofCambodia, HisMajesty Norodom Sihanouk. In addition to the Prize of Sciencesfrom theMayorofDalat, I concurrentlywasawarded thePrizeofValedictorianfrom theAssociation of Parents of Lycée Chasseloup‐Laubat,LycéeMarie CurieandLycéeYersin.AlltheseacademicresultsledmetotheUSStateDepartmentFulbrightscholarshiptostudyengineeringinAmerica.ThatwashowMITbecamemydestination.

Evennow, thinkingbackabout these studentdays, Imust say that the fewyearsattheDalatLycéeYersindidgivemeatremendousfightingspirittoexcelinmystudies.Here,thanksmustalsobegiventomytwinwhoinfusedinmethesenseofcompetitionanddeterminationtoovercomewhateverchallengesandobstaclesIhadtoconfront.IsaidtomyselfthenthatwhatevermytwincoulddoIcoulddoaswellorevenbetter.

TheFrencheducational systemrateshigh schoolgrades fromzero to20onthefinalexams.Amarkof10outof20willearna“mentionpassable”meaningyouass.p

Inj ofhonorsaregiven:uniorandseniorhighschoolsthreelevels

Amarkbetween12and13.99willearna“mentionassezbien”meaningyoupasswithhonors

Challenge at MIT 205

na“mentionbien” Amarkbetween14and15.99willear meaning youpasswithhighhonors

Amark of 16 or higherwill earn a “mention trèsbien”meaning you passithhighesthonors

w

Throughout our lives my twin and I competed with one another, oftenratherheatedly. In fact,asyoungsters,weactually foughtphysicallyquiteoften.Therefore,itwasagreatencouragementtomethatinhisjuniorhighschool,mytwin earned a "mention passable" while I was valedictorian with a "mentionbien."MytwindidnotpasstheFrenchbaccalaureateinDalat.HewasthensenttoParistofinishhishighschool.Heeventuallyobtainedapharmacydegreeandhisdoctorate. Then heworked for the CNRS (Centre de Recherche Scientifique) asirectorofResearch.ThiswasnosmallachievementforonewhohadfailedathisrenchDF highschoolinDalat!

I was also a bit jealous that my twin was able to enjoy a much bettermateriallifeinPariswitharatherwealthyuncle,whiletheunclewhotookcareofmewasnotatallablefinanciallytosendmetostudyinFranceandmuchlessintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.As is commonly said, somearebornwitha silverspoon in their mouths and some are not. I did not get the silver spoon! Andlacking the spoon, one has to pick up the shovel and dig hard. I did just that!Thanksagaintomytwin,Iacquiredataveryearlyageacompetitiveandfightingspiritinlife.Ioftenhavetheimpressionthatmytwin,havingbecomeaParisianinthe past 60 years,may continue to look down onme to some degree, perhapsbecause in hismind Iwas not able to receive a French education and lack the"sophistication"ofaParisien.IamquitehappywithmylifeinSanFranciscoBayoverthepast40yearsandneverhadthedesiretomovetoanywhereelse.Iamcer ainmytwinmustthinkthathisParisianlifeistheverybestintheworldsincePar si

ti sawonderfulcitywithbeautifulmonuments.

BacktomyroomatMIT, I thentriedtohavesomesleepandbereadyforytriptoNewYorkCity,theBigApple,formynewjob.m

206 EAST meets WEST

ThetwinatParisairportin1976