Hello Concord Family,

I hope everyone is doing well and healthy. My holiday went great and as well as my weekend. Didn’t eat a lot of food for Thanksgiving, but I did receive a lot of birthday wishes because my birthday was on the same day as Thanksgiving. I didn’t do anything for my birthday until the next day after my birthday because I came back home late and didn’t had the time to celebrate. I haven’t had a cake for my birthday in years, but my sister in law got me a cake which was awesome! Due to the pandemic still, I couldn’t do much, but got to spend time with my family and ate a few meals together. I hope everyone also had a great time with their loved ones.

School is going great for me so far this semester. It’s almost the end of the first semester this year. There are just a few classes I am finishing up. Ever since last week, all my classes that I had in person got moved to online, so I didn’t had to go on campus anymore. It was quite disappointing, but it was for the best and safety of myself and others. In English I am set to go and only had one final unit left to write, which is a memoir. I never wrote a memoir before, so it’s something excited to do for the end of the semester. In Art, we are finishing up a new project in rhythm and principles of Art. I haven’t done a good job being creative throughout this class, so I hope for this last project I can give out a good and outstanding job on this artwork. Before the semester ends, I am just finishing up assignments and registration for next semester. With last summer, I took a Math program to get me into a higher Math class which I got into this year, and will be enrolling in that class.

Outside of school, I am looking for jobs and making new plans for next semester. This semester has been tough and stressful the past few months. I hope that for the upcoming next semester it will be less stressful and have a better focus on things. With school and stuff I was able to do other things that I didn’t think I would be able to do and that was performing for another University Hmong new year. Everything was on live so there were no performances shown in person which I find to be smart and still entertaining even with Covid.

With November ending, I will update you all in December with a new semester, in the mean time, take care and have an awesome last day of November!

-Keng Thao

Hello Concord Family,

I hope you all have been doing well. It has been a good semester so far, yet very busy. Last week I had my midterm exam, which went pretty well. I am almost halfway through my first semester! Time is really going by fast and November is already coming up.

Lately I have been working on my Art project and research paper in English. Both of these class are really time consuming, but I enjoy taking the course and so far has been going great. I’m really glad my professors this semester are really understandable and does an amazing job of teaching in person and online. I am so glad that I am emailing to my professors more and communicating with them which is important and something that I didn’t do as much my previous year. Something new I learned in English class is how to properly using citations and APA, references and MLA. Back in high school I didn’t had the experience to really use these things, so It’s a good thing that I am working on a lot on these on my paper.

Last year during my freshman year, I participated in a Homecoming event called Lip Synch. I participated again this year, which we took second place again. Due to the pandemic still, we held it live so people can watch it without attending in person. I got to meet new people and had fun learning more dance choreography. During the past couple of weeks, I got the chance to decorate and add more things to my room. I never really know how to organize my room since this is my first time having my own room ever since my sister has graduated. Yesterday I went to my first pumpkin patch! It was such a fun experience and got to see a corn maze. There were beautiful pumpkin carvings, food trucks, and decorations.

• 

So far, this month has been going well. With Halloween being different this year, I hope you all are still having a great time with family and friends. Most importantly, also staying safe. Happy Halloween and stay tune until next time!

-Keng Thao

Hello Concord Family!

I hope everyone is doing well and are taking good care of themselves. School has started and right now I am already in my sixth week of college as a Sophomore! It has been awhile. Time has gone by really fast. By fast I mean like the speed of light. This fall semester had been starting out good. I’ve had such a busy school year with me taking two online classes and two in person. I have been reaching to a lot of my professors and advocating for myself this semester which I am really proud of.

With my new classes, I find myself enjoying them. I am currently taking an Art class that does a lot of cool stuff which I never experience even when I was back in high school. I did my first two big projects so far, and it turned out great. One project we did was with different type of lines and portraying them into our picture we chose to draw and then the second project I had the chance to use ink, pens and sharpies to draw by using lines, economy and other art terms techniques. Another class that I took is aerobics, which I find it challenging because it is an exercise class. I’m enjoying my classes this semester and classes are going well for me. I like my professors that are teaching the courses, which makes me more relax and comfortable knowing that they are there to help me and are understanding.

With the pandemic still around, I had the chance to meet new people and helping the new freshman being familiar to the area. I also had the chance running as a board member of club I’m in. Now that this school year has started, I am getting more used to using zoom and I have being using it for class, and my club for meetings and such. Just a few weeks ago, I did a photoshoot with my board members so that people can know who we are and have more knowledge about our club and what we do. The sunset was amazing, which really took breathe away. It was refreshing to go to a place where I have never been before.

• 

I am really excited to what is still to come and I hope that everyone is taking good care of themselves in a time like this. I hope to keep uploading more photos onto my blog. I will update more in October! Stay tune and take care.

-Keng Thao

Hello Concord family!

I can’t believe July is already coming to an end! So much have happened in this short amount of time. My schedule has been really busy and time is not slowing any time soon. My brother got married recently and I got a job! It really took me a long time to find a job for the past few months, but sadly I will only be working until its time to go back to school in August. From that being said, I started a summer math program that will help me to not retake a class of mine that I didn’t earn credits in which I found really nice. Not that it will only help me for getting credits, but it will help me to improve on my math. What’s really nice about this program is that there are also no time limit or what so ever, but there is a deadline to when I have to finish on completing the assignments. So far it has been going well with little complications.

Just one more month and I’ll be a Sophomore in college! At the same time I am really excited, but also nervous. With the pandemic still around, it does make me question a lot of things and having concerns. I’m hoping the classes I registered for fall semester will go smoothly. I registered classes that were online and in person which are hybrid classes. I wonder how that will go this year and up coming year. Since my sister has graduated this year, I get to have a room to myself which I’m looking forward to because I have never got a room to myself in my entire life. Even with the pandemic, I will continue to explore of being a college student and have that experience still. Looking forward for Fall semester. 2020 and 2021!

With the time I have spent at home, I wrote a few poems and would love to share them. Poetry has been an escape for me from reality and cope with my feelings. I hope to become a great poetry writer and soon to put together a book.

With July coming to and end I hope that everyone spends it well and is continuing to stay safe and healthy. I will update you guys In August!

-Keng Thao

Hello Concord family,

Like always, I hope everyone is doing alright and is taking good care. It has been a tough time for all of us, but we will pull through. ““Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.” — Helen Keller. One of my favorite quote.

Just not long ago I finished my first year of college. Just less than two months, school will be starting again. I feel like time goes by so fast that my summer feels so short! I am really excited to go back to school, although there will be a few changes due to Covid-19. I miss all my friends and being able to be on campus again. I didn’t get to fully enjoy my first year experience as much as I did until the end, so I hope this upcoming Fall Semester will go well. During class registration I finally took a class that has nothing to do with my major or generals. I’m excited to that as well. Surprisingly when I checked my school email, I made it to the dean’s list. Which means an academic award or recognition.

With my Summer break I have been keeping myself busy doing my own things. Playing my guitar, cleaning, reading, and teaching myself new things by watching youtube videos. I am an active person, so I take walks around the pond that’s nearby my house. The view there is beautiful and it relaxes me. The weather has been bi polar the past few days. I noticed in my previous blogs I didn’t have photos uploaded at all, so I hope to take more pictures throughout my college years and share them.

With June coming to an end, I hope that everyone have a great rest of the month. I also hope to bring back more updates and pictures to show you guys! Until next time Concord Family,

-Keng Thao

Hello Concord Family,

I hope everyone is doing okay and in good health. I can finally say I finished my first year in College! It has been a tough semester for all of us, especially after the Covid-19. My sister who is a year younger than mine has just also completed her Senior year of high school! I can say that my sister is smarter and much better than me when I was in high school. Proud of her and the accomplishments she achieved. I have made improvements on my grades since fall semester. I am proud and glad to see that I had more potential than I thought.

After completing with finals and school I have been home ever since. I am staying back at home until the Summer. Not a lot has happened since the day I came back from school. During quarantine time I had many zoom meetings with an advisor who helped me prepared for next fall and getting me started on class registration. Also I bought and downloaded this game called “Jackbox” which is a fun game to play with friends and families. It helped entertained myself and my siblings during quarantine times.

After months of being in quarantined, just after a few days an innocent black life was taken by four police officers. His name was George Floyd. Ever since the incident there has been many protests and riots happening the past few days. To put my opinions into this, I am upset and angry when it could have been avoided. I had to watch my City and people suffer. In times like this we should stand together and help each other. With the black lives matter out there I hope that we all can help and stand with them. I am disappointed in the law enforcement field and feel like nothing has changed since then. With things escalating and situations not getting any better, I hope that everyone takes good care and stay safe.

Until next time!

-Keng Thao

Hello Concord family!

I hope everyone is doing good during this pandemic. I am doing good and has been recovering from being sick as I mentioned in my previous post. I hope this pandemic end soon so I can have my normal college life back. I miss being outside and going on campus, especially that’s where I’m at the most. I have been getting a lot of support from peers, friends and families, so I’m glad I was able to pull through. Just a little on what I’ve been doing during quarantine is playing my guitar. My guitar is the only thing that help keep me company and entertain other than school work.

Looks like May is right around the corner! We are about to be in May. Time flies by quick! As final exams are coming up, I have been preparing myself in my three courses that I’m taking. In my last post, I mentioned about an event that was canceled for my Anthropology class. To do something without having to be in a big crowd, I chose to do a game stream where I spectate as a viewer or audience. What I do is watch the gamer play and take notes as an anthropologists would do. I’ve never done it before and it’s interesting. In my Literature class, I finished all my writing essays and now just a film review left before the semester end, also in my creative writing class, I have been writing fiction stories which isn’t my strongest skill, but I found it quite entertaining. Just a few days ago, I experienced zoom for the first time. I’m sure everyone knows what zoom is by now. Talking to my professor through virtually felt so weird because I’ve never called or been in a chat room before with other people. It was a great experience for me and I hope by next fall it won’t have to be online classes.

So far I have been doing online school work and taking care of myself. I’m excited for this semester to end and can’t wait for next fall to start strong and fresh again. I hope you all will take good care and staying healthy. Have a great last day of April! I’ll update in March!

-Keng Thao

Hello Concord family,

I hope everyone is doing well and taking care of themselves. With the Covid-19 going on, it has been really tough and rough. Being home quarantined has not been easy for me, but I am adjusting to it. Since school campus and classes has been off limits, our courses has been moved to online schooling. At first it wasn’t easy because having access to resources can be hard for me and its harder to ask questions especially when I’m not one on one with a professor. Doing online classes for my English course has been the hardest. Other than that, I have been doing well on my classes and I hope it continues to go accordingly the way it is right now. Last two weeks of March, an event that I was to go was canceled due to the corona virus, and I was really frustrated. I prepared a lot for the event and it was for a class project that I chose to do also. Just this week April, another event was cancelled and if it wasn’t for the virus me and my group would be performing. We prepped a lot for the event, but having to understand the situation I am relief that it was cancelled.

Online classes we have discussions where Tuesdays we are required to participate on class engagement attendance, that way our professors can know who is actually following up on topics or not. I heard there is an app that professor uses called “Zoom”. So far I have not used it yet. Sadly that seniors this year, including my sister will not be walking on stage for graduation. I hope that having online classes can help me gain new experience, seeing it as a good thing and not bad.

Despite the Covid-19, there are good things with everything going on. Minneapolis Public schools are helping families with meals. The only bad news is that I have been sick for weeks and has been inside as much as I can. I hope I will overcome this sickness that I have been feeling. Nothing serious, but being sick is not great at all. I wish everyone safety and remembering to continue take good care. With the first week of online courses done, I will continue to update so stay tune!

-Keng Thao

Hello Concord Family,

I hope everyone is doing well. I can’t imagine that it has already been a new month! Due to being sick I apologize for not updating for last month. I have a fever along with dry coughs and still in the process of recovering, but overall I am doing great so far. This semester is really going great for me and so is much happening, which I’m about to tell you.

This month there is an event called Midwest Asian American Student Union (MAASU). This event will be held at the University of Minnesota. (MAASU) is a conference for Asian Pacific Islanders students across the Midwest network and engage in workshops. I am glad to say that I will be participating along with other members from Mankato State University. I am excited and can’t wait to meet other people and learn more about each other. Not just having this opportunity to participate (MAASU), but I will be using this event for my Anthropology class. In my Anthropology course, I am required to do a community engagement project and I found that (MAASU) was the perfect chance for me! Killing two birds with two stones. I was worried I wouldn’t know what to do for my course, and luckily I have already registered for the event. There is just so many good news. Another good news so far this month is that I was elected to be a board member as a historian in Kinsmen! Kinsmen is a dance group here at (MNSU). As a group member, there is an up coming event that me and my team are preparing for. With so much going on, and exhausting myself out, I think everything will be worth it!

In class, I am doing better than last semester. My grades has been looking really well and I am starting to get used to the college life. Recently, in my creative writing class we have been working on a non fiction poetry unit. I find that writing a non fiction poetry was harder than fiction. As spring break is coming up, my assignment for the past few days is to work on writing my own poem for that unit and hopefully it will go well. In my literature class we have been reading short stories of crime fiction. It’s interesting that I have never really read fiction books, but ever since I have started taking this class my interests has been rising every time we read a new book. All I can say is, I am liking my courses.

I can’t believe spring is here and thankfully the weather has been getting a bit warmer. I wish all the snow melt quickly though, it’s like the weather is always bi polar. Well, with spring break coming up, I will be staying back in Mankato instead of going back home to visit my family. It has been awhile since I’ve been down to the cities.

To end on a good note, I hope everyone had a great last month. Take care everyone, and I will update soon, so stay tune!

-Keng Thao 🙂

Hello Concord Family!

How was everyone’s new year? Happy 2020! It has been a long and tiring year in 2019. With a new year I am striving to do well and better!

Spring semester has been going well! I am currently taking a lot of English courses and one online course, which is my first online class I ever took this year. Although it’s a lot of English courses, I enjoy learning and writing. One English course I really like the most is creative writing. In this class we write poems and do exercises in free writing to help our brain get going into writing without stopping. I like how in this class we are able to be creative in our own ways where there’s no right or wrong. Recently in my Online Anthropology course, we were given an assignment where we have to think and use our observation skills like anthropologists. At first, it was strange and weird that I had to go spectate and take notes on what other people are doing and report it, but I realized I can learn so much about how anthropologists do their work in ways that we as normal people can also do. I am very happy with the courses and hope to see where it will lead me.

Into our third week of Spring semester I am performing for an event hosted by Asian American Affairs (AAA). Our purpose of the dance that me and my team are performing, is to show diversity and entertain of course. Last week our AAA hosted an open kitchen in the Multicultural Center (MCC) where they served a Hmong/Lao tradition food called Khao Phiak. A food that is serve with cilantros, meat and thick, boil noodles. It can be made in different style and ways!

Other than school, I am going to Japan in the summer! I am going together with a group that I went to Seoul Korea and China 3 years ago. Along with new members that I still need to get to know. I am excited for the trip and I can’t wait to update when the time comes.

Until then Concord family, take care and stay tune for updates!

-Keng Thao