Personal Narrative: Vietnamese-American Family

As a proud second generation Vietnamese American, I proudly associate myself with my Catholic Vietnamese community. Like all members in my group, we are indoctrinated with the typical immigrant values of perseverance, freedom, and respect for others and our cultural identity. The church that binds us together, Our Lady of Lavang, is the center where most of the Catholic Vietnamese Community gathers all over West Michigan. Since the 1st grade, I went through the Church's school program every Sunday to learn about Christian moral values, Vietnamese traditions, and language. These lessons has heavily influenced my outlook on life, enabling me to use faith to build confidence with myself, maintain integrity, and to love and respect every individual.

The topic that decided to write about is something that has special ties to me. I am Cambodian/American. I chose this topic because it would give a better insight on the history of Cambodia and what relationship it has with the United States. I was curious as to how it was possible for so many Cambodians to make it overseas into the U.S. and was able to get a green card or sponsors. I really wanted to know, what was the role America had when helping Cambodia during the past?

I am Vietnamese-American. I am part of the largest population of refugee children in American history, and one of the first of its community to be born in the American culture. With no prior generation in my ethnic group, I have faced the stresses of growing up Vietnamese and as an American. I faced the effects of acculturation throughout my life, and I have watched my parents’ health deteriorate. Both are borderline diabetic and have multiple vascular diseases. When I learned how chronic diseases were more prevalent among minorities from low socioeconomic classes, it all made sense. My family was a prime example. Since then, I have looked at my life in a different perspective and wanted to help people like my family to control and manage our health. In addition, when I visited Vietnam when I was 22, I was shocked to discover that my young female cousins were already parents and had several previous miscarriages. Subsequently, I came to realize the ongoing health crisis around women’s health in Vietnam and other developing countries. Thus, I also wanted to help women make healthier choices regarding their reproductive health.

I was born and raised in Texas where everything is Texas sized and everyone says y'all. I am an Asian American whose parents both came from Vietnam at a young age. I was soon to be molded and developed by them and my community to where I became culturally diverse. I was moved along schools which helped me build character. I also have developed into a very athletic and intelligent person due to all my friends and family helping me to reach this state.

America is like a family for while we squabble on the inside we come together to defeat the threats on the outside.We are now more deeply divided than we have ever been.For some people, it seems as if America will never come back to being united and that we are destined to be driven more and more apart.

I come from a Chinese-Vietnamese background. Though I do not have Vietnamese blood in me, my parents were born and raised in Vietnam; just like how I was born and raised in America. I grew up with the privilege of learning many languages such as Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, and even a bit of French. I grew up eating may different things such as dim sum, hot pot, Hong shao niu rou, and more. Growing up as a Chinese-Vietnamese-American was very confusing. I was a living contradiction. My family said one thing, yet American society said another. In Vietnam, I wasn't seen as a "true Asian" and in America, I wasn't viewed as a "true American". It was very frustrating, but as I grew up and learned about the world and myself, I am willing to

I bring my background as a first generation Vietnamese-American college student. I grew being the bridge between my family and the English speaking world and American culture by interpreting and translating. That experience alone has shaped me into who I am today. My opinions, my personal skills, everything that makes me. Growing up, my opinions were based on my parents' opinions. They have a traditional mindset because of how they were raise and that is all they know and understand. Part of my thoughts are related to that side but because I am also American, I have an American influence on my thoughts which is more forward thinking and open minded than my Vietnamese and parents' side. Through interpreting and translating for my family, I try

thump Thump THUMP BOOM, “GET UP SOLDIER THIS IS A BATTLE GROUND NOT A BED Thomas blitzfield get up and shoot the dang nazis”! Major strongmen shouted at thomas who was knocked out by the motor that exploded near him. As he stumbled to his torn boots he gets knocked down again but this time by one of his squad members rien ” you should know better to stand up in a fight with a German tank”. Thomas had completely forgotten that there was a tiger tank involved,to be honest he had forgotten he was in a battle in the first place. As he slowly came to his senses (mind)and knelt on the ground instead of standing on his feet. He and 34 other soldiers were trapped against a army of 200 soldiers with much bigger fire power then them that was not including

The conference panel I attended was for Dr. Thuy Vo Dang, regarding Vietnamese American identity and the role of archives in shaping epistemology. The speaker mentioned several points regarding how the archive allowed for members of Vietnamese descent to offer their narrative, and essentially give perspective to a community that had inherently omitted and censored itself. It is interesting to have found out that at one point in time, the Vietnamese identity was primarily focused on the Vietnam War, and the Vietnamese were primarily associated with labels such as victims or enemies. From the presentation I learned that the Vietnamese American community identity changed as they adopted a new mentality that stems from them being refugee. The media back then and even today in regards to the Vietnam war had generalized and simplifying the act of being a refugee and being displaced into the US. Vietnamese refugees were characterized as being indebted to the US, and grateful. In addition, the action of becoming a refugee and escaping to the United States were commonly described by various sources to have done so in desperate, cramped, and out of their control. This description appears to have

The sun was rising, people start their daily routines and their commutes to work; the city is about to awake. 1862 Boston, the home of almost 700,000 Americans at the time, remained one of the busiest cities in the world.

I miss my dad. He was so valiant to defend our country in the Vietnam war. Unfortunately, he was the only one who kept me company, since my mom was always working. Recently, a family moved in down the street. We decided to pay them a friendly visit. My mom, being the sweet woman she was, had time to make cookies and bring them to our new neighbors. The lady who answered the door was named Mrs.Kwon. She had escaped with her daughter from the violence and terror in Vietnam. Mrs.Kwon invited us in. I noticed a girl about my age, with coffee colored hair, and a lilting voice.

A sudden winter breeze blew at my neck, I turned my head around and screamed at the back trunk, “Oh my god, where are all the suitcases!?” My parents jumped out of the car and everyone else squeezed in the back seat. I could never believe that people actually commit a crime at a worship place. The scene took place at the Vietnamese Buddhist Center in Sugar Land, Texas. It was our first stop of the visit. The car windows were shattered, leaving broken, sharp crystals all over the places. My parents called 911 and moved all the kids inside the temple. The adults were upset while the kids cried for their lost valuables. My family had nothing left except the clothes on us. After waiting for the police report, my father had to drive to the car rental

I am Vietnamese, and for that I am always proud being one. “You think yellow, I say gold. It’s the color of my real skin. I am young but I am told that my history flows within,” whenever I listen these lyrics of “Hello Vietnam”, they always remind me of a lesson that my parents have taught me that is to remember where I came from and not to lose that origin. The message of the song is it does not matter what skin color you are, what matters is beauty lies deep beneath the skin. When my family moved to the United States, it was hard to adjust to the new environment, but my new living conditions were more than sufficient compared to others living in Vietnam. While my family was considered to be well off in Vietnam, many people were living on

I went outside the palace doors and saw the faces of the wonderful and loyal subjects. Everything is going so fine and great. I have a luxurious life, my allies are great, I have the strongest army, and my subjects are loyal. While walking towards the garden I looked over to see a strange military man calling my name. “Emperor Aang!!! Said the military man. It was Colston the lead general of all the armies. ‘’What happened”? I saw the frightened look on his face and knew that something was out of place. “The cities that want our treasures have attacked us from all sides, including the north, east, and west. You have to tell us what to do now, and the plan to stop them!’’ My heart dropped and out of everything this was the last thing that I thought would actually happen. I sat down to catch a

The most significant challenge that I faced is culture difference. Born in Indonesia, continuing education on America and being an international student has not been easy on me. This has been an issue for me when I leave high school early and when to a community college in Seattle. At that time, I was not even 18 years old and having difficulty when communicating with people.