"Nothing in this world is free" The Greatest Gift in Life

The Greatest Gift in Life
"Nothing in this world is free" as my Grandfather used to say. This is the motto that my family and I has been following on our long and difficult journey to America. My family like many other Vietnamese families has been abused by the Communist system. We were not given the opportunities to excel in life and this greatly hurt many that craved to obtain a higher education. My family was fortunate enough to get sponsored by my Grandfather to enter America to search for a better life. As immigrants, my family struggled daily and thus filled our hearts with melancholy and obstruction. One step at a time, we worked harder than ever to overcome the gaps that separated despair from happiness.

My parents were never given the chances to get the education they desired in Vietnam. Knowing this saddens me but it gives me the greatest strength to work harder than ever in school to make my parents proud. I still remember the first day of school in America, everything was so new and scary. Even though I did not speak any English and had many struggles with school due to the language barrier, the experience of learning English and attending other classes was the greatest experience ever. I vividly remember walking pass my classroom and excitingly looking in through the glass door to find smiling faces of the students and compassion on the teacher's face, my heart was filled with warmth and excitement because I finally saw a difference. I no longer had to stare from outside the school's big gate because my family couldn't afford to pay tuition in Vietnam. I will never forget that moment because I knew that here in America; I will be given the greatest gift of education.

Many years passed by and I was studying harder than ever to catch on with my classmates. Even though I excelled in Math, I was falling behind in English and Social Studies class due to my limited English vocabulary. I remember having the worst anxiety because I was getting bad grades in those classes, but I never gave up so I signed up for after-school tutoring, studied until midnight and all the hard work really paid off. At the end of the school year in 6th grade, we had an Awards Ceremony and I was shocked, speechless and most importantly, happy because I received 6 Excellence Awards in all my classes. My English was also improving very quickly because I was extremely lucky to have kind teachers, classmates who were always helping me and a family who always believed in me.

Everything my family has given me is extraordinary to me. They have enriched my life with their determination for a better life, passion for higher education and devotion for me to be a part of the greater world. We are all given a great gift here in America; education. But we will need to cherish it and work hard every day to achieve our dreams.

This is the motto that my family and I has been following on our long and difficult journey to America.

I have been

"Nothing in this world is free", was my Grandfather's inspiring slogan that I and my family believed in our long and difficult journey to America.


My family, like many other Vietnamese families, has been abused by the Communist system.
My family was fortunate enough to get sponsored by my Grandfather to enterimmigrate to America toin search forof a better life.