America: the true cultural melting pot of the world, where people of any culture can experience freedom and the American Dream.
The switch from the culture of one country to the culture of another can cause confusion or hesitation for a young student. Many students at Chantilly have experienced similar emotions and struggles after immigrating to the United States.
According to dhs.gov, a huge rise of immigrants to the United States has been observed since 1980, the largest portion of which being from Mexico.
Sophomore Shawn Nguyen has cultural roots in Vietnam.
“My mom is from middle Vietnam and my dad is from southern Vietnam,” Nguyen said. “They came in the midst of the Vietnam War.”
The Vietnam War, which lasted from about 1955 to 1975, caused many Vietnamese to flee. The United States entered the conflict to help prevent the spread of communism from North Vietnam to South Vietnam.
“Before the war my mom had a really good life, but then after the war they lost everything pretty much,” Nguyen said. “My dad had to come here by boat and my mom was lucky and she got on a plane.”
Escaping from war and oppression is a serious topic that often makes adjusting to a new culture difficult.
Freshman Andrew Wang, whose family came to America in order to escape communism in China, said his family is pretty Americanized today, but that was not always the case.
“They had a tough time, but they came here for a better life,” Wang said. “We eat a lot of the food like rice and stuff, and my parents speak Chinese sometimes. We don’t do what most of the people in China do; we just do American things now.”
Many have not been tasked with such an important decision as senior Alberto Gonzalez’s family had when they decided to leave El Salvador to flee from civil war.
“There was a civil war, so they were attacking their town so they were trying to escape all the killings,” Gonzalez said.
Officially beginning in 1980, the El Salvadoran Civil War dealt with a topic that had been disputed since the late 1880s, according to novaonline.nvcc.edu. The differences and strife between the social classes caused tension and rebellions. The military targeted anyone who they suspected of being in favor of social and economic reform.
The adjustment to the American way of life was not too arduous for his parents.
“My mom, she listened to a lot of music in English, and she took English classes as soon as she
got here, so she learned English pretty fast,” Gonzalez said. “And my dad the same.”
Many families choose to keep their heritage in their everyday life through food, dress and celebrations. Sophomore Sosan Malik uses language and family gatherings to remain close to her culture.
“My parents speak to each other in our language, which is Urdu, and we have functions sometimes, like parties,” Malik said. “We don’t have mixed gatherings; [we have] separate girls and boys. My mom wears cultural clothing.”
Malik has cultural roots in Pakistan, but her family has adopted many different cultural traditions due to their moving to many countries.
“My dad is from Pakistan and my mom is from Africa, but she’s Pakistani,” Malik said. “I was born here. My mom actually lived in England so she’s very English. They really like to drink tea, so we drink tea a lot.”
Nguyen said she is pretty Americanized but has hints of her Vietnamese culture in her home and family life.
“I always eat Vietnamese food like phu, all the Vietnamese food,” Nguyen said. “We go to weddings sometimes and they wear traditional wear and traditional garments, and have Buddhist monks come. [At] funerals, you have to have a monk and they chant and [are] in a temple so that’s pretty much like what happened in Vietnam.”
A citizen of South Korea for 16 years, junior Hyemin Cha and her family came to the United States to pursue her dream of acquiring a good education and career.
“I want to be an engineer and the education is better in the U.S.A,” Cha said.
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Written by Megan Amraen, Caroline Bailey
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