I was born in Vietnam, a beautiful country in Southeast Asia. In the summer of 2022, my mom told me, “On the first day of July, we will go to the USA. Everything is ready.” I was 16 years old and had just finished the tenth grade. My family decided to move to America to follow the “American Dream.” We believed that in America, our lives would be better, we would make more money, and I would have a brighter future. We had waited 15 years for this opportunity, and it was finally happening.

We arrived in America and settled in Alabama, living in my uncle’s home. My uncle taught me so much about America, the schools, and the people. After a month, I registered for high school. I was nervous because everything was new to me, and my English was not good. I only knew how to say “hello” and “bye.” I remember one beautiful morning in August, my mom, cousin, and I went to the school. My cousin spoke to the principal about me, explaining that I didn’t know English and might need a lot of help. The principal was understanding and said it was no problem, but I would need to attend another school to learn English since my high school didn’t have classes for new students from other countries.

The next day at school, they introduced me to Mrs. Kim. She was very kind to me. We communicated through Google Translate, which wasn’t always accurate, but it was fine. She helped me attend English classes at another high school. I spent the whole day with her at school.

She asked me if I liked soccer and if I wanted to play at school. I said yes because I used to play soccer every week in Vietnam. She talked to the soccer coach at school, and he welcomed me to the team. This made me very happy because I would make more friends and play soccer with them. I like making friends with everyone.

Mrs. Kim told me that the next day, I would go to a class for new students who came to America at another high school. In the afternoon, I would return to my school to play soccer with the coach and the team. The following day, she said that two more students would join the class for new students with me, and they would help me because they had been there for about three months before I arrived.

In the new class, I thought there would be students from Vietnam who could help me, but there weren’t. However, it was okay because I made a friend at school named Marco from Mexico. He had come to America three months before me and helped me a lot. He taught me how to do homework, learn English, and introduced me to his friends. Everyone at school was friendly and often talked with me.

One beautiful Saturday morning, my mom told me we would move to another state. I asked if we were going to Washington State because my mom loves that state, and we have family there. We also needed to find work for my dad because he couldn’t do the same job as my uncle and mom in Alabama. So, we decided to move to Washington State.

Now, I am moving to another state and may never see my friends in Alabama again. But I want to say thank you so much for helping me when I first came to the United States. I am so grateful for everything.

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