English and science were her worst subjects because of the language barrier, but Vang said math was easy for her because she didn’t need to know English to know numbers. She had a harder time making friends with her American peers, and in science class, people didn’t want to be her lab partner. It was frustrating and it took a long time, but she wanted to learn so she could someday reach her dreams of teaching and writing. She would spend hours translating just a couple paragraphs. She found other students in her English learner classes who also spoke Hmong, so they would communicate in Hmong, but it didn't help her English, she said.ĭespite the difficulty, Vang never stopped wanting to learn.
#May tchia vang how to#
It was during that journey out of the jungle that Vang was born on the hillside of a mountain. Under the chaotic circumstances, the exact day of her birth is unknown. Having little strength and rest between the perilous journey and giving birth, Vang’s mother had to fight hard to keep herself and Vang alive during this stage of her life.īefore coming to the U.S., Vang learned how to say ‘hello’ and ‘my name is,’ but learning the language was a challenge for her. Her father’s leg was injured during the war, and after so long in such harsh conditions, the pain was enough to risk his life and bring his family back to a village. Her family spent a year living in the jungle of Laos foraging for anything to eat. By the time the war ended in 1975, it was no longer safe due to the retaliation against those, including Vang’s father, who fought with American soldiers. That fear led Vang’s parents and siblings to hide in the jungle and pray for calm. More: Fox Valley prepares to offer homes for up to 100 Afghan evacuees Vang's journey to Appletonīefore the Vietnam War started in 1955, Vang's parents were farmers in Laos who lived a peaceful life in a land they loved. More: Here's why some Wisconsin schools scaled back contact tracing and are skipping quarantines If I know who they are, I want to make them feel welcome and like they are part of this school." “I’m pretty sure they’ll go through that, too. “'When I came, I had this anxiety, 'and I was scared of not knowing what to do,'" she said. She plans to leverage her experiences and make the incoming Afghan students feel welcome. She remembers feeling scared and anxious during her first few years in public school. She said she wants to help those students feel like they have a home in Appleton, too. Vang can relate to the need for support and the challenges the Afghan refugee students could face.
She also had spent a bulk of her childhood in a refugee camp, something few of her classmates could identify with.
She didn't speak the same language, eat the same foods or wear the same clothes as the other students at her school. In his two-bedroom, one-bathroom home, her brother and his family slept in one room, she and her mother shared the other and her other three brothers slept in the living room.Īs a teenager, the first few years were challenging. One of her older brothers invited Vang to stay with his family of seven in the city, despite the cramped quarters. Vang, the youngest daughter of seven kids, suddenly found herself calling Appleton home. It was the summer of 1989 and she couldn’t believe how green the grass was or how nicely the streets were paved.Ĭompared to the refugee camps in Thailand she had lived in for the previous six years, these seemingly everyday signs of life and order seemed shockingly out of place to her.
APPLETON - Chia Vang was 15 years old when she moved to Appleton.
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