Ten years after her family moved away, Nhu Truong returned to her native Vietnam. The purpose was study-a semester abroad, under the auspices of Kenyon's Office of International Education-but the trip inevitably had a more personal dimension.

"I wanted to learn how youths in Vietnam are thinking today about the government," says Truong, who is majoring in both political science and international studies. One of her findings: people her age are more interested than their parents in economic success, as a result of Vietnam's increasing openness to foreign involvement.

On a personal level, the trip provided some surprises. Truong had expected to feel a rush of nostalgia for the country where she had spent her early childhood. Although she spent much of her time, during the semester, in her former home, Ho Chi Minh City, and visited her mother's hometown of Bac Lieu, the trip felt less like a homecoming than like tourism. "It was much different than I originally anticipated it would be. I, myself, had changed," she says. "But I really felt that I needed to go back-you need to complete a circle."

When she came to Kenyon from San Jose, California, Truong originally planned to study creative writing. Her interests changed when she took the year-long course "Quest for Justice," which introduces fundamental questions about political experience. "I realized that these are questions I really want to explore," she says. After her freshman year, she spent the summer in Washington, D.C., as an intern for the U.S. Department of Education. There, she worked in an office that provided support for English as a Second Language programs.

Back at Kenyon, Truong plays violin with the Knox County Symphony, and she serves as a tour guide in the College's admissions office. She hopes to build on her political-science experience after graduating, possibly through a degree in international law or graduate work abroad.