Why I Do What I Do

[Thomas Nguyen]

I never really cared about school as a kid. If video games were never created, I probably would not have cared about anything at all. I was the class clown. I actually got mad at my mom because she sent me to a tutor when I was a seventh grader. She cried when she learned that I was getting a C in algebra in eighth grade. It wasn’t that I was failing. I could have easily pulled a B with minimal effort, but I was always confused as to why “above average” was as good as failing to my mom.It wasn’t until eighth grade that I learned that my mom was a straight-A biochemistry major in college. She wanted to become a doctor, but dropped out because she got pregnant. She could have gotten an abortion. She could have just given my sister up for adoption. She could have been much more than own a nail salon, but she gave up her dreams so that we, her children, could achieve ours.Although it took many years, I have learned not to take any facets of my life for granted. I’ve learned to appreciate the opportunities I have been given, such as the chance to go to a prestigious university. I will make the most out of my life because I know someone else would die to be in my shoes. I do what I do because I am grateful to her.