Mindy

Hello! My name is Mindy and I currently attend The Preuss School UCSD as an eighth grader. I’m a first-generation student from a low-income, Vietnamese-immigrant household.

Living in a household with 9 members of my extended family, I was raised in a home with too little rooms to house all of us. As a result, I never really had time to myself to regulate my thoughts or reflect on my feelings. As time passed, the majority of my time was always spent around my older siblings. I grew to look up to them and how they had their own passions that they continuously worked towards. Every year in elementary school, a question was constantly asked: What do you want to be when you grow up? Following that question would we stand in categorized rows, representing the kind of person we inspire to be. But each year I find myself in a different place than the last, trying to find what I love to do and what I do not.

In recent years, I began to enjoy reading, specifically psychological fiction from authors such as Fyodor Doestoevsky or Tatsuki Fujimoto. I was fascinated by how writers could express their perspectives and feelings into their stories. I noticed, as I read more, it wasn’t hard for me to put my thoughts into words anymore. Thus, I decided to try out the art of writing myself to see a story from the writer's view. As I grew older, I slowly became more reliant on writing to express myself. Even with fictional stories, I would find solitude in projecting my thoughts onto the words on my computer screen, expressing myself freely. Although my ambitions were never something I clearly understood, I always knew that I wanted to live my life doing something that I’m passionate about. I knew my future would surely involve writing stories. From my stories, I want to inspire people to find themselves and their ambitions, just like how it did for me.

However, similar to other low-income families, money is always an issue when thinking about the future. Adults in my family expect me to grow up into being a doctor. With money being a major issue in my family for decades, reliance on younger generations seemed to be the only solution. For instance, my mom’s dream was to become a doctor and my dad’s was to be a pilot, but with little money, getting education was already their limit. Now faced with a decision: to choose myself or my family. I find myself repeatedly thinking, “If your parents couldn’t do it, why should you?” Furthermore, I notice how hard my parents work just for a comfortable life for me and my siblings. From early morning at 7am to as late as 10pm, my parents would work at a nail salon with little to no breaks. In addition to food and bills, I have to rely on my parents to buy simple school necessities, which are turning more expensive by the day. What's more, the expenses to become a writer are far from cheap, and with success being uncertain, it’s a risky path to follow. Accepting this fact resulted in my family putting me up to standards I knew I couldn’t achieve. I was aware about how being a doctor would lift up the mass of my family’s financial struggles. But I decided I wanted to live life for both my family and myself.

When I learned about A Bridge for Kids, I understood being in this program would greatly benefit my family and I. Seeing my two older siblings, who have both been a part of the A Bridge for Kids program, I saw that they were able to obtain supplies that, without the program, would’ve put quite a struggle on my parents. What’s more, seeing the financial scholarships, preparatory programs, and more, I saw it as an opportunity to take a huge step towards my aspirations. For instance, the financial scholarship would allow me to afford school supplies, a computer, or simple books that would substantially improve my skills in writing and my understanding of literature. I believe that being in the A Bridge for Kids program would not only improve my skills, it would also be a huge step to achieving my goals. With the money, I hope to reduce the stress I put on my family by obtaining my school needs independently, without having to rely so much on their money. Additionally, with this program, I want to further understand my capabilities and move past them to become the best I could possibly be. To conclude, I hope to use this opportunity to get access to the resources and aid that will undoubtedly lead me on my journey to achieve my dreams.

Thank you for reading my story, and for this opportunity