There are moments in life when important decisions are made which greatly impact and shape one’s life. I still remember mine as if it were yesterday. The day when my father decided to finally pay me a visit. It was just another hot and humid summer day in Vietnam. The day when my conversation with father got me leaving my past behind and came to the decision that I should start over again in America. On that day, I realized how proud my family was of me before the family crisis, how the crisis has haunted me, and how the conversation with my dad along with my family’s support got me back up to face the reality once again. “It has been a year already, huh?” – I thought to myself as I took a sip of the cold coffee from a corner of my favorite café shop which was located about twenty blocks away from home. One year since the day I decided to give up trying to make something out of myself in the foreign land and moved back to Vietnam to live with my family. Australia was a land of opportunities where hard work is actually paid off. On the other hand, Vietnam was not much so due to its status of being a developing country. I have spent a third of my life studying abroad in Australia and I was sure of how proud my family was of me. I was an all-rounded college student, who was able to work and afford rent and food without family’s support. Being an international student was not an easy job when everything was expensive, especially the ridiculous university tuition fee. I still
Vast changes in everyday lives made life more hopeless for everyone. It was as if enjoying happy aspects in life was wrong and unpatriotic because America was too busy with wartime reports and affected by the cold separation with friends and family sent across seas. Women forced to carry the entire household, Japanese Americans stripped from their rights, and teenagers preparing for war without a choice. In this moment in history, Gene tells us the great struggle Americans had faced from the war and the despairing embedded memories that were left on each person. How sacrifice, isolation, scarcity, and oppression not only impacted soldiers, but of everyone in America. It’s as if the war came with it’s own shocking
Unlike most people, I did not get to be a carefree child for long. Even though I always said that I could not wait to grow up, now I wish that it all did not happen so fast and early in my life. From eleven to twelve years old—that would be the period I describe as the time I had to put my big-girl pants on and face the real, cruel and unwelcoming adult world. In that time period, I can specifically pinpoint two major events that ended my childhood: my move from Russia to the United States and the birth of my baby sister Toma. To some those might not seem significant enough to change someone’s life to the extent that they changed mine; however those events molded me into the person I am today.
Life can bring unexpected events that individuals might not be prepared to confront. This was the case in the short story “On The Rainy River” written by Tim O’Brien. Young Tim is drafted to the military to fight the American War in Vietnam. He faces the conflict of whether he should or should not go to war after being drafted. The thought of giving up the future he has worked so hard for and instead fight a war “for uncertain reasons” terrifies him. He must make the agonizing decision of whether to pursue his personal desire and in turn be shamed by society or conform, sacrificing his ideals in the process.
Going through an era when the Vietnam War was a smash hit in your town, many high school senior boys would be drafted out if their number was on the list of people. The men drafted had to leave behind their families and aspirations. Tim O’Brien uses different perspectives in The Things They Carried to show if something tragic happens in life, consequently dealing with it may be hard. Moving on will help in the future.
memoir about my father. This memoir described and expressed the feelings that I had and
Every family has their own individual problems that they deal with; no family is perfect. Children go through abuse, witness their parents abuse alcohol and drugs, and experience abandonment causing them not to feel loved. Unfortunately for the child, experiencing these things puts them more at risk for repeating the cycle, and going down the same path that their parents did. The focus of this literature review is to determine how the cycle of family dysfunction can be broken. As I searched for supporting articles the articles that stuck out to me were the ones that dealt with the causes of family dysfunction and the ways to help break the cycle of family dysfunction.
June sixteenth two thousand and sixteen. There I was in my bed crying uncontrollably. I did not know whether I was crying over the fact that my mom was moving to North Carolina, or the fact that I am being forced to grow up in a matter of twelve hours. For seventeen years my hand has been held, and I have been led through life by my parents; I have never had to worry about the simple things like doing my laundry, making dinner, or driving myself where I needed to be. After all of the sacrifices my mom has made for my family the past eighteen years, it was her turn to put herself first. She was offered a promotion, and it was not my place to tell her to turn it down.
Anything could have gone wrong. A Japanese soldier murdering my grandmother as they marched into her small village during the Rape of Nanking. The Communist forces dropping an aerial bomb on my mother’s home before the Fall of Saigon. My father’s old fishing boat capsizing in the South China Sea while escaping Vietnam before his miraculous landing in the Philippines. From time to time, I reflect upon my family’s fortuitous circumstances in the darkest periods of war and their tumultuous journey to America. Being the eldest child of second-generation war refugees has significantly impacted my life decisions and aspirations. Neither of my parents finished their education due the Vietnam War, so I have the privilege of being the first in the
While living in Vietnam, my family was well off. I did not have to worry about anything except for performing well in school. However, after moving to the US when I was about fifteen, my family struggled financially as my parents had a difficult time finding jobs. Knowing all the struggles that my parents were going through, I tried my very best in school. Moreover, I also helped my parents by taking care of house chores. Instead of staying after school for extracurricular activities, I came home early to take care of my younger sisters, help them with their homework, and make dinner for my family while my parents were off at work or night classes at community college. I started doing a lot of things that I had never imagined I would ever do as a teenager. I saw myself changing slowly, becoming more of a responsible
The year was 1945 September 2nd when the news came. Accordingly to the newspaper, our troops were coming home soon. Hitler and his troops surrendered and Hitler apparently assassinated himself. The day before was a normal barefoot day for me, running the cane poles on the old Messer Creek. Everywhere I went, was briar patches that were havoc on my feet. You could her the commotion for miles or yelling and cursing the sharp prickly little devils. I knew our troops were overseas fighting Hitler and his Nazis and I was proud of them because my daddy got drafted, I prayed for them every night before I went to bed. I didn’t know when my daddy would be back, but I knew it would be soon. I was the man of the house for over six years today. Putting meat on our table, making sure the garden is taken care of, and feeding and milking the animals, for six years exactly. I had to take place of my dad, that means chopping wood, checking and fixing fences, cutting cedar fence posts if the
Consequently, this experience has given a lot of talk about me. I define me a strong person, having difficulties, feelings through, without my family and friends. I know I can do this. I am more confident and calmer than when I just came to the United States. I’ve learned that if you give up in whatever thing you do or have negative thoughts you will not be a successful person. Don’t make poor decisions, that is an advice that always have it in mind. I’m moving forward in my school’s grades to try to get a scholarship, make my parents proud. I’m thankful to my parents for teaching me everything I know so far, for being the person that I am today. I’m still trying to learn English and adapted in a new country. I know this is difficult, but not difficult, to overcome this challenge that was for
A multitude of events have affected my life, but not all of them have been accomplishments, some have been hardships that have changed my character greatly. When I was fourteen, just a few days after Christmas, my father collapsed at work and was rushed to the hospital. There, doctors discovered that he had a brain tumor which had been pressing on his brain stem, ultimately leading to his seizure. Over the past few years, he has gone through a cycle of treatment and remission, all the while experiencing a steep decline in mental health. With everything my parents were going through, I found myself being forced into adulthood much faster than I ever anticipated, before I even had a driver’s license. Instead of worrying about midterms, I found
We had been talking about moving to California for about a month, and the prospect of leaving behind my friends, school, and family terrified me. However, I clung to the hope that maybe we wouldn’t have to go in the end, but that didn’t last long. One rainy spring afternoon my parents sat my brother and I down, and excitedly told us that we would be moving to America. My younger brother leapt up from the seat next to me and joyfully danced around the room, but I was not so ecstatic. After my parents put a positive spin on the situation, I didn’t feel quite as reluctant, but I still wasn’t fully on board. Nevertheless, I had little say in the matter as my father’s work required us to relocate, and so that summer we moved to California.
It was a warm summer evening as I packed for Navy Boot Camp. I carefully went down the list of things I could take and ensured I didn’t have anything else. A little nervous I went to talk to my parents about my move to becoming my own man. I looked at their faces and could tell that although they were proud they were a little nervous about their only son leaving home for the first time. My mom tried to smile but she was proud yet nervous because I had always been her little guy so she was having a hard time letting go. After a short conversation with my parents I decided to try and rest for the long journey ahead.
In 2013, my mother was very ill and had to travel interstate for life saving treatment. It was a very long year, and it forced the development of my independence and self-direction, given my family’s focus on my Mum’s illness.