Hillary Pham is a fourth-year student at the University of Minnesota studying marketing with a minor in art. Pham’s parents were born in Vietnam.
Byline: By Katie Rohling
“My parents were actually both people from Vietnam, so they escaped the Vietnam war and there was a process where they went over to the Philippines on a boat, and then they got sponsored to the U.S. For my mom, she came with her little brother, and they were sponsored by an American family. They lived with them during most of their time in America while they still had to depend on someone. My mom came when she was 18, and I think my uncle was about 13. That family was pretty much my mom’s second pair of parents in a way.
My perspective when it comes to Vietnamese history and war are influenced by them. I have more empathy towards countries that have gone through war.
It definitely shapes my identity.
I feel like I’m a lot more immersed in my culture because of them, because they are immigrants.
I wouldn’t say I’m super involved in the Vietnamese community on campus. I kinda just go with people who have similar interests as me, mostly just through friends of friends.
I mostly eat Vietnamese food at home, I only speak in Vietnamese with my family and parents. They [her parents] are super into pop culture in Vietnam. My parents are also Christian, so through our Vietnamese church, we have that community as well.
I think there are two sides to the coin. There are definitely some struggles, you don’t get the privilege of having the kind of information as you would have if your parents were born here. There are a lot of things I have had to learn by myself, there are a lot of things I have had to help my parents with, especially with them not being as fluent in English as I am. I had to teach a lot of stuff regarding college, I had to teach myself FAFSA and scholarships. Because I am a business major, there’s a lot of ins and outs when it comes to business. I had to learn how to network by myself, build connections by myself. Compared to students who may have parents that are already into business, they already have that privilege of knowing that stuff. Recently, I had to help my mom with car insurance. My mom owns a hair salon, so helping her with Facebook pages and wifi … it’s all those little details.
But there’s the other side of the coin, where you get to have the opportunity of getting more out of your culture having immigrant parents. Knowing and understanding their perspective and their experiences with immigrants, and their experience being an immigrant in America.
I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview by Katie Rohling