Nguyen tells her experience as an immigrants child attending school in an English classroom. The struggle of trying to fit in and avoid standing out was difficult. She was a quiet student in most of her classrooms and wanted to disappear in efforts to avoid getting called on and teased for her appearance and Vietnamese background. In paragraph 28 she writes, “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.” She is unable to make a statement regarding immigrant children because they experience so much hate, disappointment and rude comments, that speaking on ones situation would never justify every immigrants experience in school. Nguyen feels powerless as an immigrant in another country, she feels that her voice is not enough. In the text Nguyen writes, “Some kids want to rebel; other kids want to disappear. I wanted to disappear. I was not brave enough to shrug my shoulders and flaunt my difference: because I could not disappear into the crowd.” The thought of wanting to disappear was constant but as an immigrant, Nguyen was bound to stand out regardless of the choices and sacrifices she made. Though she attended multiple schools, she was never able to completely fit in. She was teased and mocked for her appearance making her ashamed of her immigrant background, also causing her to feel self-conscious which lowered her self-esteem. Nguyen did not speak up for immigrants in school because she was not able to assimilate fully in an English classroom, she was not able to be seen like the other students. Being scrutinized for her background allowed her to believe she didn’t have a voice powerful enough to speak for others. Nguyen knew that her experience differed from other immigrants and her story was not comparable.

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