One of freshman My Que Ly’s memorable experiences was participating in National History Day in middle school.

In seventh grade, the theme Ly had to work with was Conflict and Compromise in History. It could be done on paper, a website, a board, a documentary, or as a performance.

“I chose the Tet Offensive because my cultural heritage is Vietnamese. It was one of the battles fought in the Vietnam War,” she said.

Ly’s productivity and effort on the project earned her a place in the district competition.

“I was kinda surprised ‘cause I thought my stuff wasn’t that good,” she said.

In her last year of middle school, the theme was Triumph and Tragedy in History.

“I chose the Immigration Act because I’m an immigrant myself and wanted to learn about how immigration in the United States has developed,” Ly said.

Ly decided to make a website, which was hard work. Groups could only work on a documentary, so making a website herself was not easy.

She said she had to do it under 2500 words and add in images, audio and quotes. She also had to have a bibliography with all the sources  used and how they helped her with the project.

Ly also had to prepare a reflection on why she chose her topic and how she did it.

Her results in the district competition advanced her to the states. Ly said NHD was a stressful but successful experience,

“It was a cool experience, I’m just glad that I got a good grade on it and it’s over now,” she said.

Language errors were corrected on March 1, 2020.