What My Parents Saw

Stephanie Truong is a junior student currently attending the USC School of Architecture. She is an American-Vietnamese second-generation daughter of two Vietnamese war refugees who found their way out of Vietnam in the early 70’s when they were in their teens. Her mother was born in the city while her dad was from a village, both of them from South Vietnam. Stephanie explained how her parents escaped from Vietnam. Her mother boarded a ship to Thailand and was in a camp there while her dad escaped in a fish boat in the middle of the night. He spent 2 weeks in the boat and struggled for food and water and saw people died. He ended up his journey in a refugee camp in Thailand as well. Both of her parents were sponsored by families who helped them come to America. They settled their new life in the United States and years later Stephanie was born. Stephanie is a great example because as a second-generation child she recognizes the sacrifice that her parents did to escape the war that could have cost their lives if they stayed in Vietnam. She feels proud of them and as an American-Vietnamese she wants to share her parents' experiences with future generations as well as her personal perspective towards the war and how it was taught to her in American schools.Andrew Herrera was born in East Los Angeles, CA. He went to East Los Angeles Community College, and transfer to USC in 2012. He currently majors in Architecture. Difan Feng was born in Beijing, China, where he continued to live until 2008. He came to the US afterward for college. He was an economics major and changed to architecture after his first year. Iliana Michelle Lopez was born in Santa Ana, El Salvador. She moved to California in 2003. She studied architecture in East Los Angeles Community College and transferred to USC in 2012