Asked if they’re “proud” to be Americans, Georgetown students (all female) said not really, reports Ophelie Jacobson for Campus Reform. Several used the word “embarrassing.”
I was talking to my new doctor a few weeks ago. He told me his family left Vietnam on a ship when he was a child. “We were 10 people in a room smaller than my exam room,” he said. “For three months we didn’t know if any country would take us.”
The 2020 Tet parade in “Little Saigon,” a district in Orange County, California. Photo: Julie Leopo, Voice of OC
They made it to California. After six months in trade school, his father found a job. The boys delivered newspapers. “Do you know how we spent our money? We gave it all to our parents. They said it made a difference.”
“America is the land of opportunity!,” he said. “It’s the greatest country on earth. That’s why everyone wants to come here!”
After six years, his parents were able to buy a house. They pushed their children to earn straight A’s. (I mentioned Asian parents and guilt. “Yes!” he said.) All four children became medical professionals. “America gave us the opportunity!” he said.