In paragraph 28, Nguyen states, “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.” What Nguyen means by this statement is, she wants people to have an understanding of how immigrant children are treated in schools. Many people view immigrants as trouble or unintelligent. For example, Nguyen states, “Can you believe it?” Mrs. Alexander was saying, “A foreigner winning our spelling bee!”. As you can see Mrs. Alexander didn’t think a foreigner/immigrant could win a spelling bee against those who were born in America. We also see how Mrs.Alexander picks on Nguyen while she is reading out loud, “You’re reading too fast” or demands, “What does that word mean?”. Nguyen explains how Mrs.Alexander only did this towards her and not other students. This shows that people view immigrants as people who won’t accomplish many things in life. They get brought down by others, making them feel ashamed of themselves for being different. Nguyen mentions how she felt like she had to work harder to be good, to make up for her flaws. For example, “This only propelled me to try harder to be good, to make up for everything I felt was against me: my odd family, my race, my very face.”. Nguyen felt like because she came from a different race and because she was an immigrant she was not intelligent like others. Many immigrant children feel the same way Nguyen did. Like they have to prove themselves to others just because of their race or immigration status. Nguyen wants to make a broad statement for those who experience discrimination at school, that even though we weren’t born here, we are still capable of doing as much as those who were born in America.

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