Experiences of My Life

Time has moved on and has pushed everyone to change without denying it. Not only that, it has provided many life experiences for everyone. Some people have more or less experience depending on where they live, and what they do and learn. Sometimes respect and love make the dream come true, and it makes me stronger too. As a matter of fact, time maked my life change, and it let me meet something that I have never seen and learn something new. I went through many obstacles in life because of the relocation, the situation around me, family and friends. All these obstacles make me learn something new day by day, and it gives me a lot of experiences. Moreover, it gives me goals and ambitions. So, all my experiences come from my family, my country, the United States and the people around me.

My family and I lived in Battambang province in Cambodia, and it is far away from the city. It is close to the Thailand border on the West side of my count, and most people produce rice. I have two brothers and two sisters, and I’m the first son in my family. My father loves me very much because the first son is the heir to the family. I learn alot from my father, teachers, friends and people around me, and I was so happy when I lived with my family. My life was so beautiful so I finished high school when I was 16 years old. However, I never did anything hard, and I never had any problem because my father always helped and taught me to do a lot of things with him all the time. In addition, My father wanted me to learn that everything is the same thing he did “like father like son.“

Battam Bang province only had high school so I went to college in Phnom Penh. It’s the big city and the capital of Cambodia, and it has alot of universities, big buildings, big shopping center, big hospital, royal palace, a lot of people, fancy cars…etc. I went to Phnom Penh to study the same skill as my father. I studied preparation for one year at National University of Management (NUM). I rented a room that was close to NUM. I was very homesick because it was the first time that I left my family. I missed my family every night, and I felt so lonly every time. Therefore, I always went to visit my parents every month for one week, and I didn’t want to come back. If I keep doing that, I won’t get anything. I think I need to figure it out myself, and I told myself ” I’m the older brother and older son so I must be strong and do something surprising for my family and myself.“ This word is amazing to me, and It push me stronger and stronger. I improved myself a lot from day to day living in the big city, and I challenged myself to reach my goal. So, I got a scholarship from NUM, and I became a fresh student. Moreover, I got a bachelor degree of Marketing with grade A after I studied 4 years, and the government encouraged me to work at the Ministry of commerce. As a result, my efforts and experiences  motivated me, and it helped me a lot in my life when I lived alone. Incredibly, I achieved my goal,and I had a wonderful job. It is the same job as my father did when he was young.

I always wanted to learn more and know everything new so I adventure to the United States. It is the number one economy and the most powerful country in the world. I arrived in Washington state in winter, and my uncle brought me to visit everywhere in this state. It was incredible. Not only did I see snow on TV but also I saw real snow in Seattle. Moreover, this state had a lot of trees, and most trees in this state were green all year round. So, they called this state “Evergreen state”. It was a good environment, clean and with no pollution. This state is much bigger than my own country, and it was so beautiful with 4 seasons. On the other hand, I was sick because I played too much outside with the snow. Furthermore, I was very homesick more than before because it was far away from my own country and it was hard to fly back to visit my family. In this country they used American English that was different from my country so my English was so bad. I couldn’t understand and didn’t know anything because of my pronunciation. I started everything from zero, and I needed to learn English and everything which I didn’t know. Conversely, I didn’t have time to study because I needed money to live in the new land. It was really hard for me to find a job; fortunately, my uncle’s friend has a landscaping business.

The first job for me in the United States was landscaping. I could not do anything more because of the cool weather. Moreover, I never did manual work in my home country, and I only used my brain working. It was very difficult for me to work on everything that I never did, but I told myself “ If they can do it, I can do it too.” My boss was from Cambodia, and he didn’t want me working any more. He said that I’m too weak and have small muscles, and I need to find another job that is easier than this. I was so upset because I didn’t know much about this country, and I could not find another job. I asked my boss to give me a chance to work with him with low pay, and I promised him to work well. In two years, I worked hard to make myself stronger and used to do all the work that I never did in my home country. Finaly, I became a professional landscaper. So, nothing I can’t do if I want to. Moreover, the more I learn, the more I know and the more I get. I was very happy, and I feel comfortable living here now.

Landscaping didn’t make me happy because I didn’t have any benefits. So, I changed my job to work at Genie industry in Redmond, Washington state. I was so happy and excited because I had benefits like everybody else. I worked hard for 5 years in this company, and I learned a lot from my coworkers and people around me. Furthermore, I became the team resource and team lead. Because of the traffic, I spent a lot of time driving back home. So, I decided to change my job to work at Parker Aerospace in Kent, Washington state, and it was close to my house for only 10 minutes. I worked hard and improved myself a lot from assembly to welder, and the company gave me the certification for welding the military part F135 after I finished the welding class.

Time is very important for me, and this company helped me save a lot of time driving to work. In this country the English language is very impotence, and it’s the foundation to do something else in the future. I want to learn more English and skills because everything that I learn from my friends, coworkers and my neighborhood is not enough. Going through a lot of past experiences with studying English ESOL for 4 quarters in Highline Community College, and this college helped me a lot to improve my English language, especially showed me the world. So, I want to change my career for the future, and I want to be a contractor builder and building designer. Moveover, I want to have my own company, and I want to build and design my dream house on my own.

In conclusion, it is very difficult for me to maintain all the different places, especially the new place or country that I have never lived in. I can not escape or avoid it, but I have to overcome all obstacles. I need to do and learn everything starting over again. However, love and mental strength made me stronger in life, and brought me to new places. Now I feel this country is my home town, and  I’m so happy with my experiences that bring my life forward to achieve my goal, and let me know how big this world is.