As the sixteen-year-old teenager strolled down the busy streets of Vietnam, poverty caught her attention with such a shock of depression. She wonders how her people are able to go through their everyday lives with limited food sources for their family. Seeing another sixteen-year-old girl walking past her with ragged clothing and a pile of lottery tickets in both hands gave her a negative impression of life. The misery of a similar girl troubled the other well-off girl with curiosity as to why the world treats two identical teenage girls differently. Although both girls took their first breath on the same planet sixteen years ago, the different environments they grew into gave each girl distinctive opportunities to pursue their dreams. One has limits as to where she can expand her knowledge, while the other may exceed to any greater level she wishes to achieve her future expectations and for the better of her country. Being the girl with much more recognition in life encouraged me to take every fighting chance I am blessed with. It is simply unfair for a person not to have equal opportunities because they did not grow up in a well-developed country like the one I live in now, the United States of America. Both girls are similar in many ways, yet one does not dare to dream of being an optometrist while I have many doors open for my success as I accomplish any specific goal my passion accommodates with great determination.
My past trip to Da Nang, Vietnam was not only fun, but very inspiring. I did not expect to gain this much knowledge about my culture when I planned this trip.
I will constantly be grateful for my father for risking his life escaping the communist government of Vietnam so I am able to avoid the dreadful country that would forever trap me from dreaming beyond my expectations. The twenty-hour plane ride separated my poverty stricken nation from a land that seemed almost heavenly, America. We left behind a sense of disdain from dwelling in the horrid “homes” of Vietnam and started a new life with fresh feeling of optimism, but our life of constant and cruel hardships still awaits as we undergo the remaining obstacle of life.
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