Having a mother and father who escaped from Laos and took refuge in America with little to no belongings or money, one learns to value the important things in life. Linda is grateful to have parents who work so hard and have succeeded in
truly amazing things throughout their lives.
Laotian culture is a great part of Linda’s family. She has been back to Laos numerous times to visit her grandparents. Also, in her household of five, the delicious Laotian cuisine is kept cooking all the time.
Laotian food is definitely not the only food Linda enjoys though! She could hardly even pin-point her favorite food because she exclaimed how she, “likes so many things.” Out of everything, she said that pasta is definitely a dish
she could never get rid of. She also loves BBQ ribs, spring rolls and pork buns.
Along with her mother, father, and older brother, Linda’s uncle is also living
with her. Even though he is not part of her immediate family, she says they
are all, “as tight knit as possible.” Some would envy the closeness of the
Saysithideth family. Whether it is having dinner together or family time,
Laura says her parents, “value the family being close.” Even Laura’s cousin,
Susie, says, “When the family does get together, there’s a bond like no other.”
Linda and her family are Buddhist and used to attend a temple every weekend. Throughout Linda’s elementary school career, she was extremely involved in the Buddhist community, but her religious activities have lessened greatly since then. With all of the activities and school work, it is understandable that they stopped going as often. Linda and her family are still active members about once or twice a year for the festivals. After hearing this, one may characterize her as not being religious at all. This is not true. When one goes through struggles and stress, it sometimes points them towards praying. This is what happened to Linda. She had awful nightmares from being stressed with school and work. Her friend recommended that she start praying again. After taking this advice, she has been praying every night since.
Along with being family-oriented, Linda’s cousins and friends viewed her as extremely talented. They say that, “music and art define her character…she is very creative and a talented person in both music and art.” Linda religiously plays guitar, both acoustic and electric. She plays soft rock or R&B songs to help her relax. With knowledge of many instruments, she took the classical
pieces for the violin, and tried them on the guitar. Linda’s cousin says she can also, “play the piano and sing.”
Many fear trying something for the first time, but not Linda. Sophomore year, she tried out for her high school musical with no experience. She landed roles that even she could not believe, including the understudies for the main roles.
But, not only can Linda convert classical violin tunes into a great guitar sound and act/sing, she can also viciously serve a ball on the tennis court better than most you’ve ever seen.
Playing tennis since she was eight, Linda continued and, come freshman year, she
was the only freshman out of thirty to make it on the varsity team. Along with playing for the competition, Linda plays as a stress reliever. Whenever she has a problem, she says, “Going on the courts and just playing tennis really helps.”
Although Linda has multiple talents and a firm family bond, she always makes time for her friends. Priya, her best friend, stated, “She’s always there to lend an ear to a friend.” Along with lending a helping hand, she is also a great mentor. Her morals and responsibilities are outstanding and she always follows them not matter where she is. Linda is even looked up to by her twenty-four year old cousin who envies her, “talent and book-smart intelligence.”
Another one of Linda’s cousins considers Linda as an adviser. Not listening to ones parents usually results in being a rule-breaker or a rebel, but not when Linda is your guide. A. Mina Phomphakdy, Linda’s cousin, exclaimed how Linda, “taught her many responsibilities that she was taught and brought up to do, like cleaning the house, doing the laundry, cooking, and helping the family.”
Linda’s cousin shared how this taught her discipline and sees Linda as her role-model.
Linda always tries her hardest to succeed. One of the reasons she chose Virginia Tech was because she said she felt more capable of, “excelling at a school like Virginia Tech.” Along with the great academics, she loves the kind people, beautiful scenery, and extreme diversity. She enjoys the crowd at Virginia Tech because they, “know how to have fun, but at the same time, they know the importance of studies.”
It was very difficult for Linda to choose a major because she holds numerous
interests. She is involved in Business Finance now, but plans on switching and
exploring the interesting fields of medicine and technology. Because of Linda’s
remarkable knack for helping people, she plans on excelling in her career as a
financial assistant by helping out people who are in extreme debt.
Along with book-smart intelligence, Priya boasts about how Linda can always think logically before making a decision. Priya went on to declare how immensely proud of Linda she is in the way the she matured over the years she has known her. Out of all, she is extremely happy that, throughout everything that Linda has been through, she stayed humble. Also, she said that Linda has, “matured over the years by realizing that her priorities come first.” This is a
great skill to acquire and difficult to many.
Linda also gets involved around campus. Along with classes and intramural tennis, Linda is a part of clubs that involve her in the campus-life. She plans on cave-climbing and salsa dancing with her friends this semester. She wants to get involved in as many ways as possible.
Therefore, on top of Linda’s tight family bond, she is a talented and extremely versatile student which shows how much more to Linda there is than Laotian blood.
by: Julia Povolny
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