Personal Life

My mom being Vietnamese plays a huge role in my personal life. My dad and I live with my mom's side, so I experience a lot of the culture and lifestyle of Vietnam at home. On top of that, my family visits Vietnam every other year, so I get to see it first-hand as well.

My family is pretty large too; there are over 30 who live here in Worcester, and even more back in Vietnam. Being both Vietnamese and American has taught me to appreciate and understand different cultures/views, in every aspect of life. It has also taught me the importance of family; being constantly surrounded by people who love me, even when my parents aren't around, has built a strong emotional and mental background, and nurtured my love for people and human interaction. I love my culture and my heritage, and it has shaped my identity today. Being Vietnamese has given me another lens of which I can view the world through, and opened up my appreciation for the differences between people and cultures.

The best way I like to spend my free time, apart from hobbies and family, is spending time with my friends. This can include anything from video games, to rope-swinging over a lake (this actually happened!). Spending time with friends is important to me for a few reasons:

One, I'm an extroverted person and I love spending time with other people. My friends are all good people who have similar interests, so spending time with them is fun and rewarding.

Two: I value my friendships. My friends are people that support me when I need it, and they respect me and value me. So I always try to do the same for them.

Three: It allows me to relax and get away from other worries or responsibilities. While there are many things that do this, hanging out with friends is the best way for me.

I love to travel. Between family trips and soccer events, I have been able to travel all across the US.

Playing club soccer means facing teams from all across the country. Because of this, we often have tournaments in other states. These soccer tournaments have brought me to Boston, New York, Connecticut, and even Virginia! I also travel a lot with family. This is usually for two reasons:

One, to visit distant family. This includes Vietnam, like previously mentioned, but also places like Michigan and New York where family from my dad's side lives. This is great because I can get closer with family who I'm not usually able to interact with. Of course it's also really fun to travel the country and internationally!

Two, just for fun! My whole family took a trip to Florida for a week, so we could all experience Disney World for the first time. We also went to a ski resort up in Maine for a few days. Both trips were really fun, and we were able to bond as a family.

I've experienced so many unique things that most aren't able to and I gained some amazing memories. I love my family, and I'm forever grateful for these opportunities to travel.

First, I have a cat named Fuzzy! She's about a year old now, but in the picture shown here she was 2 months. Since then she's gotten bigger and her eyes have changed color, but she's still very cute. Fuzzy brings a lot of fun and variety to my everyday life, and I love her a lot.

I also love video games! My cousins introduced me to Minecraft on the PlayStation 3 back when I was 3 years old, and ever since I've loved playing all kinds of games in my free time. My main infatuation with games comes from story games. These are games that immerse you in a another world, where unlike a movie or book, you get to control the outcome. Having that control over a character in another world is a deeper level of immersion that I feel you can't get from anything else. That combined with exciting gameplay and cool mechanics make video games my favorite form of storytelling.

As a result of my love for video games, I also got into computer building. I've become very familiar with all the different parts of a computer and have even built my own!