GIP Event: Arn Chorn Pond
This past week, I and members of the Poly community had the amazing opportunity to hear Arn Chorn Pond speak in Garland auditorium. Mr. Pond is a Cambodian genocide survivor, a musician, and so much more.
Although I was deathly ill and didn't go to school, I dragged myself out of bed to come to the event, and I am so glad I did. Mr. Pond was an extremely engaging speaker, and the work he has done through his organization, Cambodian Living Arts, is inspiring.
To me, the most impactful part of his presentation was the discussion of how he dealt with the trauma from surviving the genocide. At the GIP event with Sama Wareh a little while ago, I was exposed to the importance of coping with grief and other emotions associated with trauma. Ms. Wareh is a proponent of art therapy for young kids who have experienced war, and Mr. Pond is kind of on the other side of that discussion. He himself was a young boy traumatized by war, and he found music as a coping mechanism as well as a way to revive Cambodian culture. I was very moved when Mr. Pond recounted his journey "to learn how to cry" and the fact that he wasn't healed immediately.
Mr. Pond's message also hit close to home when he talked about the bullying he experienced in American high school and the fact that he was even more traumatized by that then his experiences in Cambodia. He inspired us all to be kinder and more considerate in our daily lives.
Thank you to Mr. Pond, Ms. Diederich and Mr. Caragher, and Taylor for making this event possible!
Although I was deathly ill and didn't go to school, I dragged myself out of bed to come to the event, and I am so glad I did. Mr. Pond was an extremely engaging speaker, and the work he has done through his organization, Cambodian Living Arts, is inspiring.
To me, the most impactful part of his presentation was the discussion of how he dealt with the trauma from surviving the genocide. At the GIP event with Sama Wareh a little while ago, I was exposed to the importance of coping with grief and other emotions associated with trauma. Ms. Wareh is a proponent of art therapy for young kids who have experienced war, and Mr. Pond is kind of on the other side of that discussion. He himself was a young boy traumatized by war, and he found music as a coping mechanism as well as a way to revive Cambodian culture. I was very moved when Mr. Pond recounted his journey "to learn how to cry" and the fact that he wasn't healed immediately.
Mr. Pond's message also hit close to home when he talked about the bullying he experienced in American high school and the fact that he was even more traumatized by that then his experiences in Cambodia. He inspired us all to be kinder and more considerate in our daily lives.
Thank you to Mr. Pond, Ms. Diederich and Mr. Caragher, and Taylor for making this event possible!
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| Arn Chorn Pond - photo courtesy of Diego Jaime |
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