Favorite Work for Mr. G. ~College Essay

Over the Waters

I am a Vietnamese immigrant, who migrated with my family or more accurately escaped to America. As thuyền nhân, or boat people during the Vietnam War era, my family has overcome many hardships during their lifetime. They have seen people dead before their eyes, and it has influenced their beliefs and what they expect from me; most of the men in my family were soldiers, including my father. I have lost many of my relatives during this war. They have taught me to appreciate freedom and the opportunities that go along with it.

In my family of six, I am the oldest of three brothers. My family was not rich; we struggled to make ends meet. We began our lives in the projects of Malden, Massachusetts. Since I was the oldest, this meant great responsibility was pushed onto me. Like the typical oldest brother; I would be blamed for everything I did not do and punished severely for what I did do. Although I admit, I was quite rebellious. In my family, punishment would include a swift stick to the rear end or chopsticks onto our hands and feet. Through time, I learned to cope with the abuse, but I developed a terrible temper, a temper that festered until I was eleven. Even though I developed a temper, I never used this temper against my family; it was usually towards kids that would bully me. Strangely, along with this temper, I achieved all A’s on my report cards since first grade and was very popular among my peers.

Also I grew up to know what death meant at an early age. I suffered a terrible loss; my grandmother, who died at the age of forty-six. I cherish the memories of my grandmother. She was an important figure in my family. In fact, she saved my whole family from a whirlpool when they traveled to Hong Kong on boats. I believed that she was somewhat of a super hero, invincible and courageous. Then I became aware of her mortality when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. At this point in my life, I was confused and too young to understand what death was; I was five. I now know that death is inevitable, but it was the manner in which she died that left me with a lot of questions. Cancer became my greatest enemy, but ultimately I will be its conqueror.

She was a woman with great respect, beautiful and fragile yet she saved my whole family from a dangerous whirlpool. To travel to Hong Kong on boat is a dangerous risk, but we had no choice. My grandmother’s instincts told her that we were heading straight towards it. Yet, she chose not to go with her instincts; we could be caught by enemies that followed. A little further and my grandmother’s ears began to hear the flowing sound of water, violently swooshing and swishing about. She leaps up from her spot and climbs over forty people, on a maximum hold of fifteen a boat, and stops the men from rowing. Then they witness another boat filled with people. They ended up in the awful whirlpool, there were no survivors, and it was not much longer that my grandmother began rowing in reverse, going against the strong pull of the whirlpool. If another five seconds had passed, there wouldn’t be any survivors, if it wasn’t for my grandmother.

Thus, I aspire to be the first college graduate and plan to earn a doctorate degree. As a Vietnamese immigrant, through experience and family history I have learned that life is difficult, but I possess the strength to continue striving forward no matter the situation. As an older brother, I am glad to experience all the hardships that followed because I became their role model. Cancer is still my enemy, it will be defeated.