For most of my life, I’ve introduced my name as “T-N” because I didn’t want to trouble others with the actual pronunciation of my name. https://twitter.com/g0ldenyis/status/1249165294616051713

When I got to UF, I met people who were more than happy to learn my name, & I can’t tell you how validating it was to hear my name pronounced correctly outside of my home. It was an oddly liberating experience that I did not expect out of college.

So after ~20 years of being “T-N”....Tiên = “TH-EEN”

(If you need help pronouncing it, I’m more than happy to help )

It may be a small thing, but it’s my name! I’m proud of it!

Still, I worry about how people may not take me as seriously or turn away from the difficulty of my name when I introduce myself as a reporter interviewing people or during job interviews.

Here’s the video from @hasanminhaj (if you see this Hasan ily) that inspired this thread: https://twitter.com/patriotact/status/1208112927779282945?s=21