Personal Narrative: Cambodian Immigrant

I was born as Regina Lim in San Jose, California, the first of my Cambodian immigrant family to be born in the United States of America and the oldest of three siblings. I grew up in a small townhouse with my large family on the east side of San Jose in a pretty rough neighborhood where there was frequent gang activity. For most of my early life, I was raised by my grandparents because my parents had me at a fairly young age and were both busy with either work or school, and sometimes both. Although my grandparents were the ones raising me for the beginning stages of my childhood, they were also occupied most of the time doing what they could to help support our family so I had to learn independence early in life. Learning how to become independent at a young age contributed to me being able to leave home when I was 19 years old. Being raised with a different cultural background and learning to live on my own were the biggest factors in shaping me into the person I am today. My family immigrated to America as refugees of the Vietnam War. I was always told stories of how my family went through tough times in Cambodia due to poor living conditions, not having enough to eat, and fearing for their safety and lives while trying to escape from …show more content…
To be a proper young woman, I needed to learn how to cook and clean. Being that I was the oldest of my siblings, I was expected to help watch and care, and clean up after them anyways. While I was in high school, it was routine for me to first complete my homework, keep an eye on my brother and sister, clean up the house, make dinner for the family because my parents got home late, and clean the dishes before going to bed every day. During those times, I felt like I was robbed of my adolescence because I wasn’t able to experience life the way a regular teenager would. Instead of being able to go and hang out with friends, I was always at home being responsible and acting like a