My Path in Life

When you were 17 years old, what were you doing? I was making one of the biggest decisions of my life. When I was 17, Meng and I decided to get married. So many people opposed our plans. Yes we were very young but that wasn’t the biggest problem many people had with our marriage, it was the fact that we were of two different cultures. (Meng is Hmong)

You could say I was “color blind”, whatever the term is they use, but to me his race and cultural differences never once stood between us. I always liked him for who he was. From so many people we heard things like “you are too different, it will never work” or “your children will lead such hard lives. No one will accept them”, even his parents commented “it will only last one year” (it will be 11 years in Nov!). The worst was the shameful looks from people in public.

Nevertheless, we did not let what anyone said or thought stand between what we truly wanted. We were willing to take a risk, clash cultures and prove to everyone who had one ounce of doubt, how wrong they truly were. It wasn’t hard to adapt to one another. We both had open minds and we were both willing to learn and try new things.

After having our three beautiful children, my mind was set on staying at home and allowing my husband to provide for the family. My dream was to be an at-home mother, however; my restless spirit took over once again. It started with me working little jobs to bring in some income. I enjoyed working and my in-laws lived in town to baby sit whenever we needed them (they really changed once they knew we were serious and they got to know my character). These jobs weren’t what I truly wanted for my future.

Since we were married, my husband was on and off in college. Sometimes his demanding work schedule didn’t provide adequate time for studying and homework. I saw his struggle, and he saw my desire. Together we decided to cut back on our work hours and focus our attention on school. This is where I am today. We encourage and help each other so we do not fail in our choice and our risk to better our future.