The first year of living after the Vietnam War ended in 1975 was the most difficult to me. When I heard that my president Minh Duong in the South of Vietnam, commanded us to give up and hand the weapons to the North of Vietnam of the communist party, it felt like an atomic bomb exploded inside my head. My entire my life, my body, and my heart fell down as I came to a free fall. It came as the world come to a complete halt for me. For weeks I gradually got used to a new reality that my government lost the war. Seeking for freedom in 1981, I escaped to Malaysia by small wooden boat. Fortunately, my mother was beside me because she supported me on the trip to the USA. Suddenly, my mother died in the year of 2000, but sometimes I wake up in the morning and hope to see my mother. I named my escape the Rose Harbor because my mother’s name was Rose, and the promised land of America that she offered me as a harbor. On leaving her for the USA, I promised to her that I will live a good life for both of us. Slowly, one day at a time, I have built a new life for myself in the new land as I have taken her words to my heart. By daring to …show more content…
One day in the fall of 1981, I enrolled in a class of English as a Second Language class at De Anza College, and since then my life has changed for the better. Next, I studied at college and university for ten years. Working diligently to achieve a bachelor degree in computer science, I overcame my obstacles in my education like a wrestler tackled a mighty gorilla in a wrestling competition. To succeed, the wrestler did not quit until the gorilla gave up. I was an average student with a positive attitude toward academic success. I completed my education. I earned a bachelor degree in Computer Science at San Jose State University in 1991. From the day I left the University, I have been working as an instructional assistant at Orange Unified School District in Orange,