As a first-generation student and daughter of refugee parents, writing seemed like an unrealistic discipline to study. Students like me usually decide to pursue medicine, business, or law as these three disciplines are deemed prestigious as they can bring stable wealth and honor. Like many of my peers from minority communities, I also completed my undergraduate college degree in a science field with plans of entering a related health graduate program or even medical school. Although I finished my bachelor’s of science and managed to get admitted into a public health graduate program, I realized that a part of me was unsatisfied with all the small achievements I had made.

I was a young and introverted child who enjoyed reading as these two hobbies allowed me to get lost in another world. I always thought of how fascinating, creative, and intelligent many of my favorite authors were to create such worlds full of mystery, fantasy, anger, love, sadness, and hatred. Through works of fiction, I sometimes encountered characters that I sympathize with or characters that I would question or make comments concerning their actions that brought forth terrible consequences and endings. In the works of non-fiction, I was able to see the harsh yet tender world that many people had to live through. The books I read were worlds full of emotions and adventures that were not enough for me. With a desire to become like my favorite authors, so I started writing small blurbs of stories in my diaries, creating various worlds of creatures and characters.

Since I enjoyed reading so much, the first work I created was for my sixth-grade language arts writing contest. I wrote a classic story that was common from my parents’ generation. One that told about the aftermath of the Vietnam war where a Hmong family got separated and would only be reunited years later in the United States. Although it was short and only for a class contest, my teacher praised my work, citing it as one of the most creative works I had developed. I began to sharpen my pencil from this moment on, creating stories in my empty notebooks, sharing them with my friends, critiquing my works, and giving me ideas for further development.

However, as I got older, my writing was put aside, and my notebooks were soon filled with biology and chemistry notes as I began to focus on my studies. However, there were times when I would write a story within my notes when class got boring, or a sudden idea came to my mind. As the memories of me spending my youth filling my notebooks with various stories made me realize the joy and passion I once had but stored away– writing. With the desire to resharpened my pen, I decided to start a blog sharing tales of everyday life and other creative works.

As a prospective student of Southern New Hampshire University, one of my goals is to learn how to incorporate emotions to develop characters and settings that can draw readers’ attention, allowing them to get emersed in the plot. As an aspiring writer, my goal is to create stories of fiction that can comfort others and through stories of non-fiction that allow our younger generation to gain more knowledge and perspectives of the world we live in through culture and history.