Personal Narrative

Binh Huynh

 11/09/2016

Personal Narrative

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      After the event of April 30th, 1975, my two uncles escaped Vietnam to come to America because they wanted to have freedom. One of them escaped by sea and the other escaped by road. Unfortunately, the uncle that escaped by sea had died because the ship sank and the uncle that escaped by road was missing. My family members knew the news and they were very sad. Few years later, my four other uncles escaped Vietnam together by sea. My grandfather and my grandmother stayed in Vietnam with my mom and my aunts. They four were refugees in Thailand for several years. While living in Thailand, they opened a coffee shop to earn more income for daily life.

     Few years later, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) came Thailand to interview and helped the refugees to immigrate to the third country. My four uncles chose to come to America. Since the day they were settled to this third country, their life was totally different. They have gone through many difficulties when they first started their new life in this foreign land without parents and any other relatives. They had to live independently; besides, they had to learn English, went to school, and worked part-time to make money. They have saved pretty much money from working. They used money for school tuition and sent some money to help my grandfather and my grandmother in Vietnam. They did not feel discouraged and did not give up, not only that, they tried their best to overcome difficulties in every situation to have a better life. One of my uncles had become a doctor and the other three had become engineers. They finally overcame all difficulties and reached success. They were all married and had their own family.

     They went back to Vietnam to sponsor my grandfather and my grandmother to come here first. Soon after my grandfather and my grandmother came to America, my grandfather passed away due to his illness. In 2002, my grandmother passed the citizenship interview and became the U.S citizen, she returned to Vietnam to sponsor my mom, my aunt, and me. She could not sponsor my father because my mother and my father were not married and they did not have the marriage certificate. My grandmother stayed in Vietnam for a month and took us to travel around Vietnam.

    After eight years, my aunt, my mom, and I finally came to America. It was 2010 and it has been five years and seven months already. My life has changed since the day I came here. Everything was new to me. I did not know much English and did not even speak English very well and so did my mother and my aunt. We three lived with my grandmother in an apartment. My aunt was too old to work so she just stayed home with my grandmother. My mother had to learn English and learned how to drive. That year, I was thirteen years old and a eighth-grade student at middle school named Discovery Charter. I have made a lot of new friends there, they were all White. There was not really much Asian in that middle school. Learning environment here was much better than Vietnam. My friends and teachers were very nice, friendly, and kind. They were always happy to help me when I needed help. I was shy around them at first but then I got used to them. I talked and played with them. Thanks to the teachers and all the friends there, my English has been improved a lot.