“When you and I met, the meeting was over very shortly, it was nothing. Now it is growing something as we remember it. But still we know very little about it. What it will be when I remember it as I lay down to die, what it makes in all my days till then–that is the real meeting. The other is only the beginning of it.” The above quotation is from C.S. Lewis’s novel Out of the Silent Planet. Hopefully its being from a science fiction novel does not take away from its meaning to you, dear reader, because in the past couple of days I have seen their truth in progress. In the past, when I have partaken of leadership activities, I have always felt like something of a third wheel. This time it is different. There is so much unaffected warmth from both the members and the high school students that it would be difficult for one to remain untouched. The past forty-eight hours have changed my life for ever, or at least hold that potential if I choose to let them. I came to Vietnam seeking a new perspective on the world. I did not, however, expect to gain it so soon into the program. I have gained so much to think on and meditate about in the past even few hours that I would write far more than I am sure you are willing to read. I will give a synopsis, though. This morning, the SEALNet members and the high school students went to Da Nang College to set up computers for the Foreign Language Department. Each of three teams were given two or three computers to set up and every team set to work with such unpretending excitement and ambition that a task that was meant to take a couple of hours took half of that. Consequently, there was plenty of time to talk with the high school students. I spoke with my mentee and tried to get to know her. She is a taciturn, intelligent, optimistic young woman who hopes to extend her education in the states. She worries, however, about the SAT testing that she will have to take in order to get into an American university. As soon as I began to describe the testing process to her, three or four other girls quickly gathered around to ask questions and learn as much as they could. One high school student has set his sights on Harvard. Not even I, a citizen of the U.S. with very little financial hardship in my past and all sorts of educational opportunities at my fingertips, never dared to try for Harvard. Their ambition is almost daunting and has made me feel ungrateful for my own good fortune by comparison. Secondly, the workshops here have helped me to define what it is in my own life philosophy that I have had trouble doing myself. It is, perhaps, too verbose to divulge all of my thoughts here. The emotions flowing forth from them are still too fresh to articulate well. I will say, however, that what I have experienced has made an indelible imprint on my heart and mind and that I am forever grateful to my SEALNet teammates and leaders for affording me this invaluable experience.

- Danelle Mallen