About Me

Hi Everyone,

I had almost forgotten that I was a Vietnamese refugee in 1989. In the process of writing about me for this blog, my memories flooded back to me vividly as it just happened yesterday. The unforgettable event that has shaped and changed my life forever was the night when I left my country in 1986. Right after the dinner, my mom secretly told me that I needed to escape the country so that I could save the whole family in the future. I did not have much time to understand anything. I didn’t even know why my mother picked me and not my two older brothers. I guess she probably needed them to stay and take care of her and the whole family.

The first escape in 1986 was unsuccessful; I got caught while I was swimming to the small boat. As a result, I was put in jail for one year. I was 19 years old at that time. Until today, I am still trying to figure out how I could survive one year in jail. After I was released from jail, everyone had treated me like I was a criminal. I was afraid to go outside and meet people, I felt isolated and ashamed for no reason. Two years after the first escape in 1988, I tried to flee the country again and this time luckily, I could make to the small boat. The following ten days tested my physical and mental resilience. The small boat did not carry enough water and food for a long trip so I was very hungry and thirsty. However, I knew so well at this time there was no going back. Either I would make it or die somewhere in the darkness of the Pacific Ocean. 

Thank God! We finally arrived at the small island in the Philippines and were transferred to the Vietnamese Refugee Camp shortly after that. Two years in the refugee camp was a turning point of my life. I had met so many people; some of them arrived without their children or husbands and wives; some of them are young women who were raped repeatedly by Thai pirates and committed suicide in the hospital. I could not understand why the world was so cruel to them and what did they do to deserve that? Feeling helpless, I volunteered to work in the hospital so that I would have a chance to take care of my people. I did everything that I could from changing the bed, feeding injured patients to an interpreter. Although we had never met before, we somehow felt like we were in the same family. We needed to take care of each other and survive while waiting for our chances to be interviewed and accepted by a third country. 

My chance finally came when I was sponsored by an American Catholic Church. I arrived in San Diego in 1991. As soon as I got off the airplane, I felt like I stepped into the heaven. I did not know that a big challenge had been waiting ahead of me. It did not take long before I found out that the money that I received from the welfare could only afford me to rent a garage that had been converted to a studio. The Persian Gulf War had made it more difficult to find a job even as a gas attendant. In the meantime, my whole family had been waiting for me to send some money back to help them since I left. Unfortunately, there was no work for me there, so I decided to leave San Diego for Boston in 1992. Finding a job in Boston was my first priority. I still remember that I had to work two jobs while going to school at night. Many nights coming back from work exhausted physically and emotionally; I asked myself and wondered “Is this American Dream that people are talking about?” However, thinking of my family and what they had been through, they could go to bed tonight hungry and that made me forget about my physical tiredness and the idea of giving up. I needed to work so that I could send some money back to feed my whole family which I did. After ten years, I have become American citizen in 2001, and I finally was able to bring my mother and my younger brother here to reunite with me. I have been much happier since they were here. Things get better and better. I finally finished my Bachelors’ Degree and found the job in the hospital that I love to do. Now I truly understand the American Dream.

Writing about me for this blog helps me to know more about myself and remind me what my strengths and weakness are as well what I value the most. In addition, I come to know that we all are human. We do have to face some struggles in life. Although each of us took a different journey, in the end we got to know who we truly are and what has shaped our unique characters.

Thank you for reading. Have a great day and be kind to one another !

Hoang Nguyen