Growing up in an Vietnamese household in America means that my daily life consists of juggling my Americanized lifestyle with my family’s deeply rooted culture. My daily life can move from something as commonplace as a chemistry class in highschool to fasting on a full moon to pay respect to my late relatives. As a child, I involuntarily prayed and fasted without fully understanding what I was doing or why was doing it. No child wants to interrupt their playtime with “grown-up business”. But as I grew older, I began to take pride in my culture and learned to juggle both aspects of my life.
    My parents were born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States as teenagers. They learned most of the basic culture and language over time, but they are not perfectly fluent in English nor do they fit the role of a “typical American”. When they enrolled me in school, I was exposed to American culture. My teachers were Americans, and so were my friends.
    As I grew up in the American school system, I realized the two different lifestyles coexisted within me. At school I wore my Nike shoes, ate the cafeteria lady’s mystery meat loaf, and learned that the nucleus held a cell’s DNA. At home I learned how to use chopsticks, how to cook instant ramen noodles, and how to bow when I see a monk at my temple.