Sylvia PotterVietnam Refugee

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San Mateo Middle College High School

Sylvia Potter
Vietnam Refugee

Now a 37 year old accountant in Silicon Valley living in Foster City, Katherine Potter was a little girl living in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Her Family was directly affected by the war and they migrated to the United States. She is a tall, slim, beautiful woman with dark hair now, but at the time she was a skinny malnourished little girl.
"My family and I lived in a small village. We were very poor and I never went to school. I was too busy working with my mother at home. My father was never home, and when he did come home, it was too late at night for me too even see him. My mother told me he would come home dirty and she was always upset with him. He would yell and scream and sometimes he was violent. I don't think my mother really loved him, but she would be garbage if she didn't stay with her husband. It was the customs of the Vietnamese. The women did have some control in the house and that was why my mother tried to constantly teach me everything.
My father went to the war at night fighting . I think he was doing dirty work with the North Vietnamese. He was always talking about those dirty Americans in our business. I never really paid attention to him, and I didn't even notice him gone.
My mother hated it in Vietnam and she wanted us to leave. In the day she would work and work and save her money. She once told me that she was saving it so we could come to America and start our lives over. I never believed her.
One day, the North Vietnamese bombed right next to our village. They came in on foot and set their small homes on fire. The majority of the village was murdered and a few of my friends died. I hated the war. I hated my life. I wish my mothers words would come true of coming to the United States. I never understood it.
Three years later my mother had a lot of money saved up. There were a few occasions of people trying to steal the money. They tore up what we had and luckily they never found the money. Our own people turned on us. In 1970, we left on a boat to the United States. It was in November 17, and that was the best day of my life. We left everything behind, and we didn't care. It was a new beginning for us. My mother and I left my father behind. It seemed he met up with another woman.
My mother told me that one of her sisters had left Vietnam and we would meet up with her in the United States. It took a few weeks to get to the Unites states, but it flew by. I actually would get to go to school and be somebody. I spoke no English and I had to change my Vietnamese name to an American name. I didn't care. I'd do anything to have a second chance.
From there, my mother worked hard. We watched movies to learn English. It took me quite a long time to learn, and today I still have my accent. I went to school and slowly, we earned an apartment.
I'm glad that we got the oppurtunity to come to the United States. Sometimes I wonder what happened to my friends and even my father. I hated that war, but in a way, it gave me a chance to be somebody. I am somebody today.

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