In “The Good Immigrant Student” by Bich Minh Nguyen, she talks about her experiences as an immigrant. Throughout her life, Nguyen felt out of place, especially in school, due to being a refugee from Saigon. In paragraph 26, she says, “I would like to make a broad, accurate statement about immigrant children in schools. I would like to speak for them (us). I hesitate; I cannot.” Nguyen cannot make a broad statement about immigrant children in schools because every immigrant child went through their own unique experiences. The experiences that the author went through are not the same as the experiences that other children of similar status have gone through. In paragraph 26, Nguyen states, ” My own sister, for instance, was never as shy as I was. Anh disliked school from the start, choosing rebellion rather than silence.” Clearly, this shows how even though they come from a similar background, the author’s experiences differ from her sister’s since Nguyen was quiet and shy in school while her sister didn’t like school and was more rebellious. In paragraph 7, she also states, “If it was my turn to read aloud during reading circle, she’d interrupt me to snap… things she did not do to the other students.” This further shows how the author’s experiences differ from the others. Because Nguyen was seen as different and it was clear that she was new to the country, she was given a hard time due to her foreign status. Rather than receiving help from others, Nguyen would be treated differently making her envy those who were rebellious.

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