In the summer of 2007, junior Ashley Tangaroman moved here from Thailand, dleaving her house in the countryside, the busy, “polluted” downtown Bangkok, and the familiar languages of Thai, Lao and Mandarin. She even had to leave her parents. Ashley abandoned much of which she knew to come to America in search of a better education and business experience.
Ashley lives in Linda Vista with her aunt and uncle. Her parents, who couldn’t leave their business for America, currently run a jeans company in Thailand named “Henry Komo.” In 10 to 15 years, after obtaining her degrees and getting enough business experience, Ashley plans to return to Thailand and take over her parents’ company.
“By then, my parents will be too old, and I will have to take care of their business,” she said.
After learning English just three years ago as a freshman at Cathedral, Ashley is now taking AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, is co-president of CCHS’ International Refugee Club, and is hoping to go to UC Berkeley for college.
Though she hasn’t seen her parents face to face in over two years, Ashley visits her family and friends over Skype almost every day.
According to Ashley, initially the absence of her parents was liberating: “It was weird; the first year I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh! I don’t have my parents with me, and now I can do anything.’”
By sophomore year, however, she started missing her family, recognizing that she took her parents for granted while she was with them, “I started to appreciate what my parents taught me because the only people that really care about you are your parents.”
Now after three years in the United States, Ashley’s current goal is to become “more independent and grown up.”
The most difficult aspects about living in the U.S. for Ashley are not being able to physically be with her family and the absence of her native language. “I miss the Thai language. I miss having someone who speaks the same language as me. There’s no Thai at Cathedral. I’m the only Thai person at Cathedral.”
Although Ashley misses Thailand, she said,”I like everything about America except junk food – it’s kind of unhealthy for me.”
In particular, Ashley enjoys the sense of equality and freedom of the country. “I like that basically everyone’s the same. You have freedom.”
Ashley said that in Thailand one must either have money or good connections to live successfully. “You need to have connections or enough money to get a good job or into a good college. You don’t have to take SAT tests or anything, but if you have money, you can go to a good college in Thailand,” she said.
Ashley continued, “Over here you guys are the same. If you want to eat something, you have to stay in a line and buy the food. But in Thailand, if you know the owner of the restaurant, you can go and eat the food before someone else.”
As for Cathedral, Ashley is generally happy here. “I’m lucky that I met nice people when I came here. Sometimes I’ve met some people who didn’t know that I came from Thailand, and they kind of looked down on me.”
A friend of Ashley’s, junior Renee Schmiedburg, said, “I think she’s really enthusiastic and driven about the important things in life. She really has a good idea of major priorities in our current society.”
Ashley’s least favorite class is AP Biology, while her favorite is Asian Studies. According to Ashley, she enjoys Asian Studies partly because it is about Asian cultures, but also because of teacher, Mrs. Jan Davis.
“I talk to Mrs. Davis like I talk to my Mom. She’s nice and kind and cares about me, like she cares about every student, and she wants to listen to your problems.”
After spending three years in a foreign country, Ashley feels gratitude towards her family. “I’m lucky that I have good parents. My parents love me, my parents take care of me, and although I’m not with my parents right now, I know that they love me and trust me enough to send me over here. I have a lot of opportunities, too. Some people in Thailand don’t have opportunities like me.”
When asked if she had any concluding comments, Ashley said, “I’m not American, but sometimes I see many Americans who don’t appreciate what they have. They have a language, they have their parents that care for them, and they live with their parents, but some tend to not appreciate what they have. But I think it’s the same for everyone. They don’t appreciate what they have, but when it’s gone, they start to appreciate it.”