Liheang’s Studies: A Long Journey of Hard Work

​Liheang Long, a fourth-year Physics major at Royal University of Phnom Penh graduating in June, is great at time-management – and it’s not because she studies physics. She has an amazing energy, which she relentlessly channels towards her work, her family and her friends.
 Throughout university, Liheang has tutored children from wealthy families to earn money that she sends back to her family. This year, she is also working as a Physics “instructor” at a private university. Her students learn science online and Liheang is there to help and answer questions, which gives her experience and also pays quite well.

Making money is necessary for Liheang. Her parents are farmers living far from Phnom Penh, and she has two brothers and two sisters. Liheang’s father has been sick for years and cannot work much, so Liheang helps support her family. Liheang has an incredibly busy weekly schedule with classes and 17 hours of teaching, but she also finds time to look for opportunities for other students, like when she recently found instructor jobs for two fellow students.  She has great consideration for others and we are lucky to have her among our EFC students. 

Through the university where she teaches, Liheang made a connection with a “medical physicist.” The term was new to us, but medical physics is the application of physics concepts, theories and methods to healthcare.  The physicist Liheang met is considering sending her to Italy to get a specialized Master’s Degree that would make her only the second medical physicist in Cambodia!  It would be an incredible chance for Liheang, but if it does not happen she has several other plans: to apply for a job with the Ministry of Energy, to pursue a Master’s in Physics in Cambodia, or to apply for an exchange program in Korea, Japan or Germany. 
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Here’s to the journey ahead!