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Graduate defies odds, lives American dream by Cindy Abole Public Relations Like one of the most enduring symbols of Vietnamese culture, Mai Huynh-Le’s life is a  lotus flower of strength, beauty and tradition that has emerged from the struggles and terror of war to live the American dream.  Dental medicine student Long Huynh adjusts his wife's graduation cap prior to commencement. A jubilant Dr. Mai Huynh-Le joins 52 College of Dental Medicine graduates and 636 other degree recipients in today's 174th commencement ceremony. Her proud parents, Ngoc and Long Le of Stone Mountain, Ga., escaped communist Vietnam along with Huynh-Le, a brother and three sisters in 1991. Today, Huynh-Le joins 52 College of Dental Medicine graduates to receive her diploma and become the first in her family to graduate from college and receive an advanced degree.  Born five weeks before the fall of Saigon in 1975, Huynh-Le and her family fled south to safety and resettled in her mother’s home town of Bac Lieu in the Mekong River Delta. Her father, who worked as a South Vietnamese official during the war, had been arrested and imprisoned by the communist ruling hand. Following her father’s release nine years later, the family, like many desperate Vietnamese at the time, looked for ways to escape communist rule and sought asylum through the United Nations and other world countries. While many fled their homeland by boat, others who were able to prove their allegiance to the U.S. during the war could qualify as political refuges and were allowed to enter America. With help from a U.S.-sponsored refuge assistance program, members of Huynh-Le’s family were able to resettle in Atlanta, Ga. “We came with little money in our pockets, very limited English and a great desire to succeed and learn new cultures,” said Huynh-Le, who remembers that time as a 16-year-old girl, joined by her parents, one brother and three  sisters. She remembered the kindness of strangers even through their first weeks and months as they settled into their adoptive country. “People from the community were so kind and helpful—driving us to the supermarket, coordinating available health care and support through assistance programs and running other errands,” she said. Huynh-Le was able to complete the last two years of high school and enrolled at Georgia Perimeter College in Clarkston. After two years, she transferred to Georgia State University and graduated cum laude with a biology degree in 1999. It was then that she was first introduced to dentistry. She worked part-time as a dental assistant for a female Vietnamese dentist in Atlanta. “I found out quickly how comfortable it was to work with my hands,” she said.  By the time she was in college, she knew she would pursue something in the health professions. For Huynh-Le, it became a simple process of elimination. She saw medicine as too stressful and lengthy. She didn’t feel she had the right demeanor for nursing, while pharmacy did not interest her. Ultimately, she chose dentistry because of its nice balance, independence and challenges and also because she could work with her hands. She applied to dental programs at the Medical College of Georgia, MUSC and the University of Maryland’s School of Dentistry in Baltimore. Not surprisingly, she chose MUSC because of its sound academic curriculum and diverse learning opportunities. She was also enticed by Charleston’s friendliness and charm. For four years, she has followed the general dentistry track and has gained in her knowledge and experience. “My time here has been an amazing experience because the faculty and staff have been very kind to me,” said Huynh-Le. Beside the college's curriculum, she also worked part-time at the college’s fixed-prosthodontic clinic as a work-study student. Recently, she completed a one-week rotation providing general dental care services to low income families around the Hilton Head area through the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic. “I think I performed more dentistry work during that week at the clinic than I have in a month here at MUSC,” Huynh-Le said. “The experience was invaluable.”  A quiet, unassuming and soft-spoken individual, Huynh-Le is hardworking, smart and talented. She is a member of the American Student Dental Association and is this year’s recipient of numerous dental medicine awards from the Academy of Operative Dentistry, American College of Prosthodontists Undergraduate Achievement Award, Dentsply Merit award in Removable Prosthodontics and the 2003 Dentsply-Ceramco Fixed Prosthodontic Award.  “Mai is an excellent student and has proved to have exceptional clinical talent,” said Tariq Javed, DMD, associate dean for academic and student affairs in the College of Dental Medicine. “I am proud of her accomplishments and tenacity to overcome some unique life challenges.” College of Dental Medicine graduate Dr. Mai Huynh-Le and husband, Long. Along the way she married fellow Georgia Perimeter College classmate Long Huynh, who has just completed his second year at the College of Dental Medicine. She feels lucky that her husband shares a similar interest in dentistry. The pair hope to become lifelong partners in practice as they are in marriage. “It’s great that we will share the same profession,” she said. “After a tough day, its nice to be able to come home and talk to  someone who can truly understand your struggles.” Her plan following graduation is to stay at MUSC and complete a one-year residency in advanced education in general dentistry until her husband completes dental school.  And what is her mother and father’s reaction to their daughter finishing dentistry? “I think they see it as a dream come true,” Huynh-Le said, of her parents. “They both knew that staying in Vietnam would only lead to uncertainty and struggle. Like most parents, they wanted to give us a life worth living and an opportunity to do our best. We found that chance in America. I couldn’t have gotten this far without the support of so many especially my parents, husband and extended family.”     Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.