Brother's Big Day

Little Brother's Big Day
  My little brother, Tai, is a calm 20 years old guy who has been through lots of changes in his life. Since birth until five years old, Tai did not live with his mother after he turned six years old due to our parents's separation. Due to their conflict, I became his both sister and mom since we were living with our dad's family. Luckily, we got raised by our beloved aunty, she was our indeed mother. I was also played a part of raising him and always beside him when he in needed. 

His learning ability was not as strong as mine since we were in school in Vietnam. I understood that he doesn't like school that much but he had to go to school for his education because he needed to. In July 2015, our family were lucky enough to begin our new chapter in America. My brother was in a culture shock for awhile until he got into high school. He had a hard time adapting new school,  new friend and even the food shock. After that we were happy for him to graduate his high school and start his 20 years old life. 

Living in the US, one of our biggest obstacle was the naturalization, it is the process of becoming a US citizen by acknowledging all civil questions, writing skill, reading skill and moral questions. I had naturalized in 2022 and that I was proud of myself. Almost three years later, in March 2025, Tai got his opportunity to become a US citizen. In the past few days, I was so anxious for his interview to be soon coming up. It was nerve breaking because after my mom's denial, I got an anxiety because of the experience wasn't too comfortable. However, my worries eased down after we went through all the questions, and his confidence yet anxiety proved to me that he can do it. And yesssss, he did pass the naturalization! Yeeeee!!!! 
 
It was his amazing moment to become a US citizen, we won't have to be worried about coming back to Vietnam with the green card's expiration. Also, we can travel freely to many other countries with our US passport or Vietnamese passport. I am so proud of him, he did his best despite his struggle in English and social anxiety. Still he nailed it! He wasn't being confident in himself in the beginning, however, I stayed supporting him from afar because I knew that he will be his best when he study alone with no distraction. I only help him prepare the legal documents and went over the series of civil and moral questions. He has been learning dedicatedly and took them into long-term memory be reviewing those questions daily. And today is Wednesday, March 5th, 2025, Tai officially became a US citizen. My biggest burden is finally over. Now we can travel whenever and wherever we wanted. Also, we can get citizen benefits and our rights. My parents burst out in happiness for his biggest success. They can eventually settled down without worrying. 

Our next goal is bachelor and associate degrees. We will have to try harder for our future! We can do it! 

Wednesday March 5th, 2025
Proud to be Tai's Big sister
Thanh April Van



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