Author and activist Loung Ung speaks Tuesday at Ohio State University-Newark's convocation ceremonies. / Jamie Potts/ The Advocate
Written by Abbey Roy
Advocate Reporter
NEWARK -- The first-time college students who attended convocation Tuesday at the Newark campus of Ohio State University might have been under the impression it is finally their year for freedom.
No more parents to come home to after class -- commuters exempted -- plenty of late nights out with friends, long-awaited independence from the sheltered life of the high school years.
Loung Ung's keynote address might have made them want to cling to their families just a little bit longer.
The author and survivor of the Cambodian killing fields -- the extermination of about 2 million Cambodian citizens, including Ung's father, mother and two siblings, by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 -- recalled in intimate detail her struggles as a child and her lifelong search for peace.
She urged the students to strike a balance between studies, activities, friends and family.
"How blessed are you to be here?" she asked them. "How blessed are you to have family?"
Ung told them the story of her close-knit family when she was a child growing up in Phnom Penh; how, before the Khmer Rouge invasions, they would watch movies together and she would sit in her father's lap. They didn't have cupholders, but Ung's father automatically would turn up his palms to hold her "junk food of choice" -- fried crickets -- when she tapped his arm to let him know she was finished.
The last time she saw him was in 1976, when she was 5 years old, as he hugged her goodbye and walked into the sunset flanked by two soldiers.
That night, she prayed only that they would kill him with a bullet so his death would be fast and painless.
Not long after, Ung's mother forced her and some of her siblings to leave home and never return -- to spare their lives, although Ung didn't understand it at the time.
She never saw her 4-year-old sister or mother again, Ung said, but "I am proud to be her daughter today."
Ung told her listeners to cherish the moments they have to spend with their families.
"What I wouldn't give to have an hour, to have a day ... to be with my mom, dad, sisters and brothers," she said. "When you think about not reaching out to your families, I hope you remember my story."
Ung also encouraged the students to take advantage of their time at OSU-Newark to pursue their talents and use them for peace.
After Ung, who immigrated to America at the age of 10, graduated from high school and college in Vermont, she traveled back to Cambodia more than 30 times. She became an activist against land mines, whose devastating effects she saw firsthand during her visits to her homeland.
Even without traveling abroad, students have opportunities to pursue peace in their own way, Ung said.
"Peace is not an automatic. It is something we devote, we strategize, we count on a daily basis," she said. "It is something we seek out."
She asked the students to think about what peace looks like to them.
"In this environment, you have the luxury of finding what peace means to you," she said. "When you find this, pursue it."
Freshmen Kimi Bentley and Heather Kelly, both of Pickerington, attended the ceremony Tuesday and said Ung's had been a poignant message.
"It's nice to hear someone's actual story," Bentley said.
Kelly agreed. "I thought it was really good and informative," she said.
Abbey Roy can be reached at (740) 328-8546 or amroy@newark advocate.com.
Written by Abbey Roy
Advocate Reporter
NEWARK -- The first-time college students who attended convocation Tuesday at the Newark campus of Ohio State University might have been under the impression it is finally their year for freedom.
No more parents to come home to after class -- commuters exempted -- plenty of late nights out with friends, long-awaited independence from the sheltered life of the high school years.
Loung Ung's keynote address might have made them want to cling to their families just a little bit longer.
The author and survivor of the Cambodian killing fields -- the extermination of about 2 million Cambodian citizens, including Ung's father, mother and two siblings, by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 -- recalled in intimate detail her struggles as a child and her lifelong search for peace.
She urged the students to strike a balance between studies, activities, friends and family.
"How blessed are you to be here?" she asked them. "How blessed are you to have family?"
Ung told them the story of her close-knit family when she was a child growing up in Phnom Penh; how, before the Khmer Rouge invasions, they would watch movies together and she would sit in her father's lap. They didn't have cupholders, but Ung's father automatically would turn up his palms to hold her "junk food of choice" -- fried crickets -- when she tapped his arm to let him know she was finished.
The last time she saw him was in 1976, when she was 5 years old, as he hugged her goodbye and walked into the sunset flanked by two soldiers.
That night, she prayed only that they would kill him with a bullet so his death would be fast and painless.
Not long after, Ung's mother forced her and some of her siblings to leave home and never return -- to spare their lives, although Ung didn't understand it at the time.
She never saw her 4-year-old sister or mother again, Ung said, but "I am proud to be her daughter today."
Ung told her listeners to cherish the moments they have to spend with their families.
"What I wouldn't give to have an hour, to have a day ... to be with my mom, dad, sisters and brothers," she said. "When you think about not reaching out to your families, I hope you remember my story."
Ung also encouraged the students to take advantage of their time at OSU-Newark to pursue their talents and use them for peace.
After Ung, who immigrated to America at the age of 10, graduated from high school and college in Vermont, she traveled back to Cambodia more than 30 times. She became an activist against land mines, whose devastating effects she saw firsthand during her visits to her homeland.
Even without traveling abroad, students have opportunities to pursue peace in their own way, Ung said.
"Peace is not an automatic. It is something we devote, we strategize, we count on a daily basis," she said. "It is something we seek out."
She asked the students to think about what peace looks like to them.
"In this environment, you have the luxury of finding what peace means to you," she said. "When you find this, pursue it."
Freshmen Kimi Bentley and Heather Kelly, both of Pickerington, attended the ceremony Tuesday and said Ung's had been a poignant message.
"It's nice to hear someone's actual story," Bentley said.
Kelly agreed. "I thought it was really good and informative," she said.
Abbey Roy can be reached at (740) 328-8546 or amroy@newark advocate.com.
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