“Hong from Vietnam"

"I still feel Vietnamese at heart"

 

‘Hong' was born in Saigon, Vietnam in 1971, just four years before the end of the Vietnam war. By 1978, her homeland had changed entirely: the Communist victory had reshaped the country, and for families like hers - who had ties to the South - the future was uncertain. Worrying about what the future had in store for them, escaping the country became the only clear way forward.

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Hong, her mother and 3 siblings (her dad left Vietnam 10 years later) fled on a small fishing boat with barely any power, drifting on the ocean for seven days. They met countless dangers over their journey, from sharks circling their vessel to Thai pirates, who looted other boats nearby. When they finally reached an island in Malaysia, they went to a refugee camp set up by the British Red Cross which provided shelter and food. As a child, she didn’t fully grasp the danger they had escaped - she only remembers feeling happy to be "surrounded by the sea". After six months, despite not speaking a word of English, her mother chose the U.S. as their new home, a decision she now sees as life-changing.

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From the moment they arrived, the U.S. lived up to its ideals of freedom and opportunity. Education was free, and though they had little, there was always a path forward. Her mother opened one of the first Vietnamese restaurants in Oregon, determined to rebuild their lives. Hong went on to get into Georgetown University and secure an investment banking job on Wall Street from J.P. Morgan. Despite her many years in the West, she has never forgotten about her Vietnamese heritage, whether it be through celebrating Vietnamese traditions or cooking the food of her homeland. She ended by saying that she "still feels Vietnamese at heart."