My Memory

Everyone who has a present on earth always remembers everything that comes into their life both bad and good stories. Some People carry only bad memories, but others remember all the good memories. A small group of us can’t remember everything because of mental problems or accidents. Sometimes the bad memories that  pass through our life are also good experiences for us in the future, and the good things which arrived into our life are the best memories that we always miss and remember all the time, and we wish they have a present in our life again. Memoring of each person are not the same as each other because it depends on the situation or environment that they live in. Some memories show our passion to achieve something, our burnden duty to help someone. Other memories make us miss someone who helps us succeed in our goal, or they make us remember a good time with our friends or family. Furthermore, our memories make us proud about ourselves and  have a strong confidence that is a fund for us to struggle with other problems. Both negative or positive memories are the best souvenirs for us to move forword. The memories that I never forget and remind me of all the time are the duty behind my promise, volunteering to motivate the poor youth, and my ESOL classes.

The duty behind my promise is the memory that I can’t forget because it is proof of my burnden duty as I am the oldest sister and daughter. It is also the best resource that makes me struggle as an immigrant in the US until I become a US citizen and am studying in jumpstart classes now. Furthermore, It will be the power which pushes me to reach my goal to study engineering in college. In fact, I am the oldest sister among my other siblings. My mom got a serious illness when I was 17 years old, and she told me to promise her to take care of both my brother and sister, who are younger one and three years old than me. I didn’t know I had to handle a long distance duty while I agreed with her. A month later, my family faced financial problems because 80% of it was spent on treating my mum. Nobody wants to be close to us when we run out of money, so all expenses in my family are my responsibility. I asked myself how I could solve all of these problems; only me couldn’t close my eyes on those cold nights. Then I jumped to sit on the house’s roof, looked and asked the sky what I should have done, but he was deaf. My small business was opened with the capital $150 only. I woke up at 5am to cook and prepare breakfast for my whole family. Then I opened my shop, and I went to the college after lunch time. I cut or sewed cover sheets and blankets for my customers after I left from school, so I could do my homework after I finished my job. Some of my classmates asked me why I didn’t hang out with them, but nobody knew about my story. In addition, I faced more dangerous situations when I went to have business in Thailand or Vietnam. Thousand tears dropped from my eyes nobody saw, but they knew only my success. I got an illness at midnight when politics in Thailand was bad, and I told myself that “if I have the life, I will go back home, or I will put my bone here”. Moreover, I supported my siblings until they got degrees and had jobs. I was not only supporting them but also their spouse and kids, and I got the feedback from them that it was my duty. In summary, the memory that I describe above is the evidence of the secret behind my promise, and It is the best memory because it made me become a correspondent person, have a strong confidence and face the problems; especially, it is the best fund which made me pass all my problems during these four years.

My passion to motivate the poor Cambodian youth with the new life organization is my amazing memory because I am not only sharing my experience with them but also giving advice and motivating them to be successful in their life. We all had fun together by going to visit Koh Kong province after we finished our course. Those activities are active in my brain. Around 5am in the morning 2010 my team and I left from Phnom Penh toward Koh Kong province which has a different ecosystem such as rainforest, mangroves, rivers, waterfall, islands, coral reefs and white beach that provide beautiful landscapes, diversity, and wildlife. On both sides of our way, we saw a green carpet, where the farmer had just finished transplanting the rice, and palm trees. We opened all the windows of a car, so the smell of palm sugar cake hooked us couldn’t move over the palm cake shop. Moreover, we tried the cakes, drank the fresh palm juice, and watched the way they stirred palm sugar. Wow! I can’t wait to try it again. Along the way we sang songs and  played some games happily until we arrived at the restaurant; we ordered only seafood because it was fresher and tasty. After that we put our languages in the glasshouse near the seashore. We rented two small boats to visit Koh kong island, which is the largest island in cambodia, has 22 km length and 7 km width. The sand of this island is not only white as crystal but also as small as blueberry seed, and it is also the best quality of glasses. Some of us caught fish, crabs and clams in the mangrove, but they weren’t enough for our dinner, so we bought more seafood from villagers. We cooked our dinner and had fun together, so I missed the good time with them. Blue crab fry with pickled green pepper is the best Khmer cuisine. Blue crab in Cambodia is delicious and does not smell as strongly as blue crab over here. About 8pm we went to visit a colony of fireflies, the mangrove forest is their home. On both sides of the wood bridge, thousands of firefly families were boasting their green fire attractively. While our eyes were watching those pretty fireflies, one of my friends shouted loudly ” ghost! ghost…”, so some of us ran and another stood in the middle of our line. It was scary because there was no electricity, and we had only flush light. The natural song of the bird and sea waves push me to continue sleeping. After we finished our breakfast, we rode canoes along the mangrove to visit the farm of tropical fruits which grew on the island, and they are not only cheap but also delicious. The uniqueness of the scenery of the island and the warm friendliness of the islanders absorb more visitors. It is a very nice place for someone who likes hiking or adventure, and it is also a good retirement place because of the fresh air and quiet but be careful with poisonous snakes”. In conclusion, these good memories are meaningful to me because I am able to help Khmer poor youth to have strong confidence and succeed in their life, and I also learn about  their experiences. Their smiles and activity are still actively in my memory, and I wish them luck in their path.

ESOL classes are a valuable memory that I can’t forget because it is the place that provides education to me to be able to write this story. It also gives a new opportunity to immigrants like me to get a higher education and a high level of life. The best thing that I remember is the marvelous warm hearts of all my teachers in the Highline College that spend time helping me until I can stand at this point. In fact, The hard work of  my teachers is deep in my heart that nothing can be measured. I would like to say thank you to your burnden duty in rescuing and orienting the path to me. Among all my teachers I am strongly thankful to my first English teacher in the US;  Her name is Lilian. In fact, I was not only illiterate in the English language but also in computer programs, but she spent more time after class to create my account and password. Moreover, she always motivated and gave advice to me when I gave up, so I will never forget the hand that carried me from the deep well to a safe place. My special man who always advises and reminds me all the time to study hard; his name is Mahmoud Amal. He is not only teaching me all  English skills but also worrying about his students’ future.  Although he had a strong flu, he still taught us because he wanted all his students to be successful in their path. Thousand thanks is not equal to his loving to us. Totally, my memory about ESOL classes is deeply meaningful to my life. I must try to study until I get a degree to reply to the hard work of all my teachers.

In conclusion, my memory about the secret of my burnden duty, my activity to help to poor Khmer youth to be progress in their destiny, and my ESOL classes are the best memories that always stay in my brain because they make me succeed in my goal and complete a duty as an oldest sister and daughter. Moreover, they make me become a strong person and face all the problems that come into my life, and they are the power that makes me struggle with all the barriers in the US during four years ago. It makes me happy that I can help other people, and I also learn good experiences from them. I will be able to study in college and have a stable job. I will carry the love and helpfulness of my teachers to share with other people even if I am not a teacher.