Panel Discussion

On Monday night, two Hmong refugees came to our classroom. Doctor Schuler had invited them to tell their stories. The reasoning was that we had heard from Hmong people who had been moved to the United States as children, so we should hear from the Hmong that had come as adults and refugees. Both of them, told stories about what jobs they did while in Laos during the war. They also told us how they were able to get through the tough times while in Laos and in Thailand.

While I sat there and listened to each of the speakers, I was amazed by the lengths that they went to to secure not only their own safety but the safety of their families. It was nice to be able to see the difference in experiences between these two and Kao Kalia Yang, who had come to America as a child. Both of these speakers talked of what they did to help the community and also what kind of will it took to make such a drastic change as fleeing your home country and moving to a country where everything was different.

One thing that I clearly noticed about both of the speakers was the amount of courage each of them had. They both talked simply about things that in my mind were extrodinary. The way each of them talked about the things they did made those things seem normal, eventhough some of the things they did were extraordinary.

As I look back on the experience, I realize more that I am blessed to have grown up in this country. I think that this experience has shown me that no matter how difficult times get and no matter how hard people try to put us down there is always a way to get through it.