Stories to Remember. Emilie Tang even at the age of 13 understood what a sacrifice her parents had made with their decision to send her to the United States to complete her education. Five years later, her college entrance essay was overflowing with love and the promise to achieve at the highest level possible- not for herself, but for her parents, and ultimately, the entire family. Emilie also wrote about the difficulties of life in a new country. “As a teenager, I was miserable for the first couple months.” As her mother, Ting, had low English skills at the beginning, Emilie found herself in an uncomfortable role as translator and negotiator in many circumstances, including rent renewal and going to the bank and the doctor. She said she “was a nervous ESL student herself, but that it made her grow up fast. “She (Ting) would never ask my help if I was in China. Here I have more responsibility for this family.” She has a close relationship with her father as they speak everyday by phone and have a webcam to see each other. She remembered that he told her to care for her mother. She believes that her mother understood more than she could say in most circumstances. Despite helping her mother so much in the beginning and adapting to a new school and country, Emilie has excelled in her high school studies. She also has made friends, gotten a part time job, become involved in extra curricular activities and done volunteer work. Being a whiz at nearly everything, especially math, she was accepted into the Honors Program at the University of Washington. She hasn’t decided on a major, maybe psychology, or finance (taking after her parents), or medical school. She believes that in her four years of college, she will find her “passion.” What is certain, however, is that Emilie will bring great honor to her parents.

In this short seven-minute excerpt of the long interview, Emilie describes helping her mother, Ting, with English. The warmth of her voice and words underscores the strong and beautiful relationship that these two women share.