A Young Cambodian Woman Studying in Tech in the US, Plans to Soon Share this Home
Photo shows Narith Vichada (L) during a sharing session with high school students on Industrial revolution. Photo: UNICEF CAMBODIA/2022/Nick Sells
- By Chhuon Kongieng
- and Nhor Sokhoeurn
- October 28, 2023 7:12 PM
PHNOM PENH — Narith Vichada has had one goal: to share her the high tech (IT) skills with people in Cambodia so it is accessible to all. And she is acquiring the knowledge to do so. Originally from the countryside in Battambang province, she is now studying computer science in United States.
Vichada moved to Phnom Penh when she was in grade 10 to attend the New Generation School of Preah Sisowath High School, staying with relatives.
Her goal was to break the preconceptions in her community regarding women and higher education, that they should stay home and look after their families, she said.
“I wouldn’t know much if I had only staid in my hometown,” Vicheda said.
She finished high school in 2021 and received a full scholarship from the American University Phnom Penh to study computer science. This includes the study of computers and algorithmic processes as well as their principles, hardware and software designs, applications, and their impact on society.
More recently, Vichada obtained a four-year full-scholarship under the SHECAN program, a five-year program that involves scholar recruitment, university readiness, a U.S. university education, leadership training, and post-graduate support at home.
She is now a first-year student in computer science at the Northwestern University in Evanston in the U.S. state of Illinois.
“There are many reasons I chose this major,” she said. “First, I did not know anything about computers. But I wanted to learn computer skills when I saw others can use computers well, especially when I learned and joined the competition.”
Vichada also had a project “Wander in Tech,” which is an educational website providing a guiding hand for people in this new era of technology. It was created on June 10, 2022, and is now on hold while she is studying in the United States.
In the future, she plans to launch projects and/or revive her “Wander in Tech” site, using the knowledge she will have acquired at university abroad.
To students in primary or secondary schools still unsure of the path they want to follow, she said, “[a]sk for help when you need it and have the courage to take on challenges like learning, selecting a major, and problem-solving.”
And no matter what, she added, “[d]o not be scared to aim high.”
