Compassion

An Experience to Remember
by Quynh Chu

The temperature had cooled from the suffocating 100 degrees of the earlier day, but my skin continued to perspire. I had applied insect repellent to ward off the mosquitoes, but it was of no help. Nonetheless, the aroma of fried shrimp and garlic made me hungry. Tonight, we would be enjoying dinner outside. This was the first time that I was with my entire family ever since I had fled to the United States as a refugee eleven years ago.

The shrimp looked and smelled delicious so I went after it first. Eating was great in Vietnam; every meal had fresh food that came directly from the market, not the refrigerator. I ate silently, listening to the small conversations around the table and the sound of kids playing and neighbors talking outside in the plaza. I looked around the table and felt a sense of happiness and pride. Rarely in the United States do whole families sit down together to enjoy a freshly cooked meal on a regular weeknight.

This family togetherness is one aspect of Vietnamese culture that I admire. Parents provide for children, and children take care of their parents. Relatives stay in close contact and always help each other out when another is in need. In 1987, for example, my mother was in a road accident and had to have her leg amputated. In order to buy her a prosthetic leg, my relatives in the United States helped gather the money needed so that my mother could walk again. Another aspect of the culture that I admire is how people in Vietnam live their lives. They seemed to live in the day and appreciated what they had, not wanting more than what they needed. Of course, the people I met were concerned about what the future held, but they took the time to relax and enjoy the present, living each day to its fullest.

Back at the dinner table, I picked up another shrimp with my chopsticks and put it in my bowl of rice. I looked around the table again at my cousins. I was able to recognize some family resemblance among them and myself the round face, the big eyes, and the prominent foreheads. I wondered to myself if they knew about genetics and DNA. After later inquiries, I concluded that they did not considering the poor quality education that they received no textbooks, no lab equipment, and no extracurricular programs. Children go to school in old decrepit buildings and have teachers who seemed to be more concerned with discipline than with teaching. One of my cousins got yelled at for growing out her hair, and the teacher spent the entire day cutting each girl s hair short.

Seeing how my cousins grew up made me realize how fortunate I was to have grown up in the United States. Aside from being able to enjoy a higher standard of living, growing up in the United States has enabled me to have many opportunities to learn, to explore my interests, and consequently to fulfill my potential. I have received a high quality education, and I have had the opportunity to participate in such programs as the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine, Doctor for a Day, and an internship in a biology lab. After contemplating what my life might have been like had I not come to this country, I was also filled with a sense of relief and satisfaction. I was relieved that I had seized those opportunities to learn. I was satisfied because I had taken advantage of them. I worked hard in school and tried to gain as much out of the education offered to me as I could. My cousins received none of these good opportunities to fulfill their potential, and I am content that I did not waste the ones that I did receive.

Four weeks after this particular dinner, I departed my native country and returned to US soil with a new perspective. I now hold a greater respect for my culture and heritage and a greater appreciation for the country that I live in.