Vanessa - Thailand to New York

My mother was someone who molded independence herself before her legs would walk; she formed her own life from a small town in Thailand to the cities of America. With parents venturing to America in her childhood, leaving her behind, she has been placed in the care of her grandparents; at the age of eight she was already in a routine, enforced by her grandparents. She would do chores, attend school, return by the night, then restart her day. She followed this until college–bound to becoming an accountant. However, she didn’t find satisfaction in that, and reverted to a different major. My mother sought a job alongside her friend after graduation, earning a position of salesman. Nevertheless, she felt outside her element, so she ventured a year later to find a new job. She later became a secretary’s assistant. After three years passed since her graduation, she was called to America by her parents. As obligation goes, she left everything and set off to live in America in 1998. 

Thus, she started finding work in her parent’s company: she worked at their restaurant with her siblings. Even so, she, too, did not find pleasure in the work of a restaurant. In the year, she quit and returned to Thailand for a visit to her hometown; she was supposed to return to her parents. Something had urged her to return, but not to where her parents lived, which was Texas, but instead to the city. New York. And so, she listened; carrying her two bags (which were for the vacation and nothing else) she landed in the streets of Manhattan. Which, in hindsight, was an impulsive thought. Even if she studied English, application of a language, especially in a location where slang was constantly used,–which isn’t taught in these courses—was difficult. Yet, she was incredibly brave, and somewhat stubborn in all honesty, and decided to start her new life there. She, with herself and a limited amount of materials, secured life and yanked it to her own will. 

So when I look at my mother, I can see her unshakeable will. The same will that brought her here. The same strength that made her a mother.