College Admissions Essay: My American Dream

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Given away by my name, I am not an American; I was born and raised in Saigon, Vietnam - a dynamic city with over nine million people squeezed into roughly the size of south Bay Area. It was towards the end of my third year of high school that my family immigrated to the U.S. Leaving my hometown behind, at seventeen, I started a new chapter of my life. Growing up in a developing country leaves one with two career choices - to become either a doctor or a lawyer. Due to this mindset, schooling in Vietnam becomes more of an obligation, a duty one is set to do rather than something that originated from the will. There were times that I told myself to become a doctor, but I was clueless if the thought came directly from my intention or it’s only …show more content…

Nonetheless, it was neither the geographic disparities nor the tremendous cultural differences that obstruct the dream I had in mind. It all began when my parents’ disagreements accumulated. The language barrier barricaded my father’s will to stay. After countless quarrels, he terminated the marriage and fled back to Vietnam. As the adults drifted apart, the burden on my mother’s shoulders doubled. Left by our own, we struggled to make ends meet. Going to a four-year university, therefore, was no longer our option, especially when my sister and I were both entering college at the same time. So, despite my mom’s weak stamina, she toiled away working a straight 50 hours a week to put food on the table. Her limited English skills couldn’t get her a better job rather than being a minimum wage factory worker. My sister and I were exerting ourselves to our best capability at school in hopes to at least make her feel better, and to be told that we wouldn’t make it to graduate the year of. For a second, my family felt apart and all of my confidence collapsed; for a second, I thought this was the last call for me, that I would never be able to succeed or get anything done with my life: I felt helpless. As times like this, I was fortunate enough to have my siblings to share this feeling. It’s been a year and a half and my life has gotten a lot better. After changing accommodation, and switching to another high school, my sister and I were finally be able to graduate on time. We have been working on campus since Summer 2016 to shoulder the work for my mother. We were also saving money for transferring process later on. I will continue my passion of pursuing a Physics major and hopefully get transferred to UC Davis in a two year

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