Patchara is a 17 years old girl. She grows up in a small country called Laos and she moved to America at the age of 11 because her mom remarried. The day she arrived in Cedar Rapids airport, she knew that day will completely changed everything about her. As she walks out she meets her new family and also her aunt, she stood next to her husband while carrying her 6 months old son. Her stepdad walked upfront with his family, then his dad said, “welcome,” with his smile and gave her a hug. That hug from him reminded her of her grandpa in Laos. After a while of chatting, they headed back to her new home.

It was a rainy day in middle of April. She sat on the back of her aunt’s car because the other car was full. As she was looking around she realize that there was so many corn field, her uncle told her that Iowa is known for it. She nodded and said, “I learned something already.” and they all laughed. After 30 minutes of driving, they arrive in front of her step dad’s house. She said she wasn't expecting the house to look like that, but she didn’t know what she was expecting in the first place. As she walks in there were so many people inside the house waiting to see them. She said, “I was so surprised that all of them are Laotians,” she added, “ I wasn’t expecting this either.”

After chatting with the people,  Pat felt very tired and she went to sleep at 6 pm. She woke up and she was really excited to take a look around the new house carefully. She was happy about the change, everything going fine she thought.

Until a week later, her stepdad took to school. The school was so different from her school in Laos. It more nicer and better environment . Everything about this school is three times bigger and better. here’s come the problem. She couldn’t communicate with anyone . She said she took English in Laos, but the accent  in the U.S was so different. The people there were so friendly because they tried to communicate with her by using hand gestures to help her understand. The one thing that pissed her off a little was when people thought she is Chinese. At first, she didn’t take it too seriously, but when it happened often or even and over  the same person who already asked still thought that she was Chinese it pissed her off. Other than that it was good, she doesn’t have to worry about bullying, but instead, they help her out. One thing that about this is because when she comes back home she only speaks Laos with her parents. But time past so quick. Everything went by so fast. The next thing she knew she can understand and can communicate with them. Even though it’s not perfect but she’s still improving.

Old problem solved, new problem come. Since her mom and her stepdad did not have much time to get to know each other back then due to times issue. There are a lot of conflicts. He almost sends them back to Laos because there are so many things that they argued about and can’t figure out how to solve it.

Her mom always tells her to study hard and don’t worry about anything. “I remember my mom told me to stay strong because no matter what she won’t let him send us back. She said for your future we need to stay in America,” Pat said.

For 4 years her mom works nonstop and save money. Then they have a big argument. They were arguing for four hours and raised their voices at each other. But her dad has to get up and go to work early so he left her mom and go in his room to sleep. Her mom came into her room with her tears dripping. they hugged each others while crying and decided that they had had enough and decided to leave. It was 2 am so they decided to stay up all night and waited for him to leave. After her dad left for work. They packed as fast as possible and headed out to Iowa City to lived with her aunt.

Little that they know, it’s not easy to do something in here. After one month her stepdad send a divorce paper. They have no idea what to do so they have to wait for her uncle, but he also busy with his divorce paper with his old wife and he doesn’t that much because his kids were the one whom do the paper works for him. They have no choice but to do it themselves. Since her mom can’t speak English, Pat has to do it. She remembers calling her dad’s friend to ask him what they should start. So he suggests to search for the free lawyer and contact them. “ it was a complicated time for me, I had to catch up with my new school. I have to get out of school early to go translate for my mom when we need to meet her lawyer. It was not easy, but I'm glad that I can be a big help to her. We went through all those hardships together,” she said.

Months after months everything slowly getting into shape. But of course, they still have so many steps waiting ahead. Since now that her mom is a single mom, the government help them out a lot. They received food stamp, free insurance, and free education. They are so thankful for those benefits.

The changed in her life made her experiences so many hardships, but hardships come with lessons. Pat said she learned so many things from this experience. She realized what she can do. It helps her being independent and reliable to other. She also found out so many opportunities that can help her succeed in the future.

As for her mom, since she can’t speak English it’s hard for her to get a job. She has to travel back to Cedar Rapids to work in order to earn money. Thankfully she was able to work at the same place with my aunt.

Now that her life is stable, Pat can focus on her education. As time past, she realized that this question came up a lot but she could never answer them. The question was, “What is your dream job?” or “What do you plan to do after graduate high school?” it was a simple question, but she just couldn’t answer them. She said, “I always asked myself what is my dream? What path should I take? Do I have a dream? When or where can I reach it? But I just hope that I will be happy with whatever I make.” After she talked to her counselor,  it help her out a lot. For a while, she knew what she wanted to do and there are so many programs that can help her reach it. She will become somebody when she grows up, make her mom proud and not regret coming to the United States