Photograph by Sarah Gaffney
Futurama: Che Angkham, 17, is trying to decide between performing arts and philosophy for her college major.
Public Citizen
Fast Times at Del Mar High
Merit scholar Tungche Angkham hopes she'll have time someday to swim with the dolphins
By Sarah Gaffney
If there were a poster girl for the Bay Area's diverse blend of cultures, it would be Tungche Angkham. Take, for instance, her nickname: Che, Chinese in origin, is also an Argentinean and Nicaraguan moniker. The 17-year-old daughter of Chinese refugees from Cambodia and Laos attends Del Mar High School, a place she loves for its variety.
"Here it's really diverse," she says. "When I was a freshman, I had three best friends. One was Caucasian, one was Indian, one was Nicaraguan, and I'm Chinese. So we were pretty diverse. That was fun."
Che, who was named a Commended Student in the 2000 National Merit Scholarship program, is a busy bee on campus. She plays flute and performs in the color guard, she serves as president of the band council, she was just named club commissioner for the student council, she's co-president of the International Club and she's a peer counseling aide.
Says her adviser Lynn Anderson, "She has been such a big part of our peer counseling program and the training that we do."
Che, who seems unusually warm and personable for a high school student, got involved in the high school's peer counseling program to combat her former wallflower ways.
"When I was a freshman I was so depressed because I had been moving around a lot since the fifth grade," Che says. "I wouldn't look at you when I talked. The only people I'd talk to were teachers and only if I had to."
Che's training as a counselor increased her confidence and her involvement in school.
"I did peer counseling training, and it's kind of a cliché and sounds kind of gooey, but it really helped me be more confident ... something clicked," says the ever-smiling Che. "I got more open. Now I'm really liberal. Now I'm a loudmouth and I have opinions."
During her busy schedule of classes and club meetings, Che contemplates college--where she'll go and what she'll major in.
"I'm thinking of NYU," she says. "I used to think I wanted to major in performing arts because I play flute, sing, dance and act ... but I took philosophy during the summer at Evergreen Valley College and I liked it a lot. All these theories of reality and people. I'm just like, 'Wow!' "
Her childhood dream of what she'd grow up to be was a glimmer of the varied interests she'd later develop.
"When I was young, I wanted to be a writer, a teacher and a marine biologist," says Che. "I wanted to do all of them at once. I thought I could be a marine biologist, write in my spare time and then after I got too old to swim with the dolphins, I could be a teacher. That was my thinking on it. I still want to try that."
But before she graduates and begins her adult life, there's a hefty tome the active student would like to find the time to read.
"I plan to read the Bible before I graduate, but it's a big book," she grimaces. "It's a really big book."
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