Knowledge is power

Thank you for your support. I understand that some have wondered why my family did not become citizens when we landed here. Some families did obtain citizenship immediately or soon after they came to America and like a lot of families, mine was not sure what that meant in the early 80’s. There was a glimmer of hope that we could return home one day and my parents thought that being citizens could possibly derail them going back home. They also could not see into the future, that their youngest son would be facing this. They didn’t know how broken I was and how I was in desperate need of counseling and therapy. There was a lot of trauma in my family and what we needed was counseling and therapy, not just pull ourselves up from bootstraps we did not have. We didn’t know that we had access to counseling. So, I was involved in behaviors that I am extremely remorseful for. Those behaviors caused me to spend some time in Youth prison and because my family did not have knowledge of citizenship, I lost my status as a legal permanent resident. As with thousands of other Cambodians. In fact, growing up I thought I was an American citizen. When you break the law, you find out where you stand with a particular country: in or out. As for my case, I found out the hard way. Knowledge is power. That is why taking advantage of a free education is so crucial. That is why being a part of a community where resources are shared helps empower others and is the key to life, liberty and the pursuit of peace/happiness. So yes, looking back on it, I wish our family would have become citizens of this great nation. My thought is, so do thousands of other families. Help people keep their families together. Thank you again.