As soon as I arrived in Malaysia, I applied for a refugee status at UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and I was recognized as a refugee after two years. Before I was recognized, I had to stay as an undocumented migrant. As the condition was not stable, I was always worried about the arbitrary arrest and repatriation process conducted by the Malaysia Immigration Department. I came to the United States in September of 2014. America is called “Land of Opportunity” where someone can achieve anything, no matter who they are. They just need to put their minds and hearts to it. My resettlement agency helped me apply for the necessary documents to live and work in the United States legally. I was given the assistances from the federal government, such as food assistance, welcome money to pay rent. They cut off all the assistances as soon as I got a job at the hotel. Since then, I have to stand on my own two feet independently. As I am an education oriented, I have always wanted to continue my education since I had to drop out of college in my country before I finished because of forced recruitment of the Burmese military. Education is a key; I need education to improve my life. The people from my country discourage me not to go to college and they told me that going to college to get a degree is a wishful thinking that can never be done. I always warn myself not to pay attention to naysayers and I am determined to prove that they are wrong one
As soon as I arrived in Malaysia, I applied for a refugee status at UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and I was recognized as a refugee after two years. Before I was recognized, I had to stay as an undocumented migrant. As the condition was not stable, I was always worried about the arbitrary arrest and repatriation process conducted by the Malaysia Immigration Department. I came to the United States in September of 2014. America is called “Land of Opportunity” where someone can achieve anything, no matter who they are. They just need to put their minds and hearts to it. My resettlement agency helped me apply for the necessary documents to live and work in the United States legally. I was given the assistances from the federal government, such as food assistance, welcome money to pay rent. They cut off all the assistances as soon as I got a job at the hotel. Since then, I have to stand on my own two feet independently. As I am an education oriented, I have always wanted to continue my education since I had to drop out of college in my country before I finished because of forced recruitment of the Burmese military. Education is a key; I need education to improve my life. The people from my country discourage me not to go to college and they told me that going to college to get a degree is a wishful thinking that can never be done. I always warn myself not to pay attention to naysayers and I am determined to prove that they are wrong one