I chose to talk to my mom since she was the only person around be that was older than me by at least 20 years. When my mom was 20, she still lived in Vietnam since that was where she was born. She said most of the people her age just wanted to start a family in America. They wanted to raise their children in a better place/ environment. My mom had her first child which was my oldest sister as the age of 21. My mom's goal when she was 20, was to just get out of Vietnam to live a better life and start a family of her own in America. The only goal my mom had was to get to America. My mom said growing up in Vietnam there wasn't a point in education since you couldn't do much there. It's a good thing my parents immigrated here because I love my life... kind of :P
I also chose to talk to my old english teacher from high school since I still keep in touch with him and he was a cool teacher. When he was 20 years old, he just wanted to finish school and become a teacher. His parents just expected for him to finish college and be successful to provide for them when they get older. In his first year of college he slacked off and thought he could get away with it but it ended up back firing and he ended up failing two classes in his first year of college. He said most of his friends slacked off too but then they realized that they would be making more money with a degree, so they all stetted goals.
I talked to my cousin's grandma which came from Vietnam recently to settle down in America to see how life is over here. Back when she was 20, she was just a house wife. Typically every women was for many ages. She would also help farm crops to eat since her and her family weren't wealthy people. Thats all she remembered since that was about 40 years ago but she did her own thing to survive and get to America. I also talked to her husband since they both came to America together and my cousin's grandpa had to provide for the family while she took care of the children, cooked and clean.
Comparing the different little interviews most people back then in there twenty had goals and worked and helped provide for their families. You see a lot of twenty year olds with no goals in life. They aren't going to school and they are jobless. People back then got married young, now a days you don't see that much.
Hi! I can relate to how your mom wanted to migrate to America to give a better life to her family because that's also what my grandparents did. It's such a joy to know that we have elders in our family who worked so hard before to give us the life we have now. It makes me realize that I don't really give them thanks enough for giving me a life much more privileged than my homeland. I also agree that most 20 year olds nowadays do not have much goals compared to the older generations. Which is very sad to think about, but I hope it can change!
ReplyDeleteYour case with mine is very much similar, both your parents and mine want to come to America for better work and living opportunity for their next generation. Women usually stay home to cook and clean while men go out and work to support the family. But in America, everyone is equal, so both men and women work together and support the family, that is what is different from Asia and here. I agree with you that nowadays, 20 years old don't really have much goals compare to the older generation, because the older generation work hard to reach their goal to provide for their next generation.
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