Debby Nguyen is a rising college student attending Northeastern University in Boston. Among her many accomplishments, she has recently written and published her own book, Pills Teas, and Songs, which can be found anywhere you find books! This book covers medical practices from different cultures around the world. In this interview, we cover Nguyen’s writing process as well as an insight on the writer herself.
Please introduce yourself.
I’m Debby Nguyen. I'm currently a second-year student at Northeastern University in Boston. I’m studying Pharmacy and Data Science and I love to write in my free time, which is how we found each other. I just released my book this year, Pills, Teas, and Songs, stories of medicine around the world.
Describe Pills, Teas, and Songs.
It’s my nonfiction book on medicine across different cultures. So, if you know anything about things like traditional Chinese medicine, treatments in India, traditional Vietnamese medicine. It’s a book of 11 short stories on how different cultures around the world from every continent explores medicine and health practices. It also talks about issues such as racism, inequalities, and cultural appropriation, especially in western societies.
When did you find inspiration for writing your book, Pills, Teas, and Songs? How did it come to you?
I would say the pandemic, because for the first time ever I was alone. I turned 19 this year and I couldn’t go home because of the pandemic, so I was just stranded in Boston this whole time and I missed home a lot. Because I’m Vietnamese, a big part of my family is cooking and making food. So, I decided to do that while I was in quarantine. I would go to Asian supermarkets and grocery stores every week, and then I found this supermarket in Chinatown in Boston that had a pharmacy counter in the front. When I saw that, I felt so much nostalgia because when I was growing up my grandpa owned a health clinic. He was a Vietnamese traditional doctor that sold medicines and treated people. So, I began reading about my own culture's medicine and began to realize that there was a lot I did not know, but I felt like I should know. I kept going and consulted with my family and found out that I come from a long line of doctors and medical practitioners, which made me really happy. So, I began reading about other cultures as well because I figured that if I didn’t know that much, then others may not as well! I find it so interesting that medicine is so connected to one’s identity, which is why I started reading about everything and putting them into words, and eventually the book was born!
Describe the process of writing your book, what sources did you use? Did you do any of the methods depicted in your book by yourself?
I did not want to rely on prior knowledge or what was already written and published. A lot of times what happens in anthropology is that you have “armchair anthropologists”, which is where White men or people who travel to Asia and write about them from their point of view without consulting with people who are from those cultures. So, a big part of my research was reaching out to people from these cultures and asking them through an interview, “How did you grow up with that kind of medicine?”, “How does it affect you?”, and “How do you feel about it?” From there, I added research and compiled it all into a storytelling way rather than simply spewing out academic research, which can also push people away, especially when we are trying to educate others. I do not want to drive anyone away, I want to tell a story so that they want to know more and learn for themselves.
While writing the book, I realized that I already applied a lot of traditional Chinese and Vietnamese practices in my day-to-day life because it is a part of my culture and how I grew up. For example, drinking green tea and black tea to help digest fatty foods, taking walks, and practicing tai chi and qigong to balance out energy are all very common practices that I already knew about and have previously applied. But, I did not realize that these practices belonged to the healthcare category.
What would you say are some necessities that one would need if they decided they wanted to write a book?
I would say a lot of prepping. Ever since I was young, I’ve always wanted to write a long book. I would start one and then stop at a page or two, or a chapter at most, because I just wanted to just put words on paper without planning ahead. I think really planning things out such as considering who you are going to talk to, what is the general message of the book, how are you going to structure it, and so much more is better than just putting out whatever you want onto paper. With everything, you need to have organization and plan ahead. What really helped me was sitting down and planning out all the possible content and ways I can put in my book. It is a lot of planning, but not impossible.
The pandemic brought many things, good (such as your book) and bad, to the world. One of those bad things was early during quarantine when there was a lot of racism towards members of the Asian community. Many believed that Asians were virus super-spreaders and believed that they should be held accountable, even though that wasn’t the case. Did this have any impact on you and what are your feelings towards this stereotype?
I would say it definitely played a prominent part in how I felt. Growing up, I was always taught to keep my head down and work hard, which I’m sure a lot of Asian people can relate to. Our parents always tell us that if we work hard and study hard, everything will be fine, which is the price we pay to be accepted in American society. But, when people started showing their face, I began to realize that racism against Asians is very real. All these events really did upset me. However, I did get a lot of pride. So, in a way, good did come, not just anger because, to me, pride means culture and educating others about it, especially other Asians and Asian Americans who may not know about cultural identity. I feel that, especially at the cross-section with healthcare and culture, educating people about things is a great way to channel anger into something good for our community. Writing my book was a way of taking back my pride and being able to show off our cultural richness.
Another common stereotype among the Asian community is that those belonging to it primarily work in medicine or law. Did this make any impact on you determining that you would pursue Pharmacy and Data Science?
I think that this is definitely a stereotype, where Asian people choose careers that are generally safe and high paying. I struggled with this a lot because I come from a family that has surrounded me with medicine my whole life. My aunt works in public health research, my parents met in pharmacy school, my grandparents and ancestors all worked in medicine. So, for me, I struggled a lot with accepting the fact that I do want to help people, I do want to learn about medicine, and I wrote a whole book because I’m passionate about learning about medicine in different cultures. So, to me, having that struggle was differentiating between me actually wanting to do this or wanting to do this because it was deemed an expectation. To be honest. I have not figured out 100% what is happening yet, all I know is that this is what I am passionate about, and I am going to keep pursuing it. If others can relate, I would say to do what feels right to you. If at some point it doesn’t, you have to sit down and reflect. At the end of the day, our parents love us and want success for us. No matter what you do, as long as you’re happy everything will be fine. But, it’s also okay to be uncertain.
You have received several awards. Do you mind explaining some of your accomplishments and what experiences have come with them?
I minor in Data Science because in high school I didn’t get the chance to take computer science, which for me seemed like a missed opportunity. So, coming to college I felt that women in tech, especially South East Asian women, are not very well represented. Even the White men in my classes would not respect the ideas I had or what I had to say. However, this only encouraged me to push forward. This was something I was not naturally gifted with. I had to learn how to code and do all these things from the ground up. I don’t think that a resume can tell that story because people only see bullet points, not really the process. So, I would say that the fact that I put myself into a field that I didn’t know I could succeed in and that people who looked like me and are from my culture are not well represented in was a bigger accomplishment than anything. I think that anybody who is afraid to go into a certain field should definitely go for it and take that step because this is an accomplishment in itself.
What would you say is your next step after this? Would you like to write more books? If so, would they be in the same general category in which you tie together your passion for medicine, people, and culture? Or would it be something different?
Right now, after the book, I think I want to go back to writing articles. I find a lot of fun in just writing short articles, especially lifestyle ones related to healthcare. I think trying out different media types is very important because the media nowadays is so diverse. Writing a book is good, but I think putting my work out there, no matter how short or long it is, is good too. I want to start writing articles again, and hopefully, in the next 2-3 years, I can write another book that covers more cultures because a single book cannot cover even one culture and all the practices within it.
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