Yer Xiong, one of our 2018 Summer Session Program Interns, has written a poem about Breakthrough entitled “Breakthrough, my Dearest Friend.” We would like to share it with all of you! Yer is also a current high school student at Breakthrough and commented that “the best part of being involved with Breakthrough as a Program Intern was having a direct impact on students’ lives.” She also had the chance to co-teach a Choreography Dance elective this summer. In the future, Yer plans to pursue a college degree and keep in contact with all the friends she has made at Breakthrough. Check out her poem below!

 

Breakthrough, my Dearest Friend

The first time I heard of you, you carried everything that consisted of my dreams
Everyone who met you shouts and sings all the ways that you are great
You are praised by 12 year olds because of your excitement
You are remembered by 20 year olds because of your influence

I got to know you myself and they were right
You made me laugh and you made me cry
You made me dance and you made me sing
You introduced me to the world
2 amazing years

On his own he befriended me, Life is what he goes by
Life was the uninvited friend at the party
but is there anyways because he knows you
I apologize for letting him take me from you

After one year, I am here again,
I see that you’ve grown into something so different but still the same culture
You still put smiles on faces as if they are stickers
Your vibe still fills the room like a happy smoke

Seeing another view of you was a challenge
Realizing there was so much more to you than corny jokes and funky dance moves
I forget that you are just as me as I am just as you
You stumble sometimes and you hurt sometimes
You rage sometimes and you cry sometimes

As I got to see you struggle,
I became a great part of you
As I got to see you smile and grow,
I became a greater part of you

My heart is filled with gratitude for you
Your growth inspired me to rise and bloom
I am now a better me

Breakthrough Twin Cities wishes you a very happy Fourth of July! Independence Day provides an opportunity to reflect on the values we all hold as Americans. It is also a chance to consider the diverse set of experiences each of us has had. Many Breakthrough students are first-generation Americans. Their families came to the US seeking freedom, justice, and educational opportunities. Breakthrough is proud to have these students and families as part of our community.

We would like to highlight two of our accomplished Breakthrough students who are first-generation Americans. Lay Lay and Let Let are twin sisters who were born in a Thai refugee camp after their parents fled their war-torn home country of Burma. In 2009, when they were seven years old, Lay Lay and Let Let immigrated with their family to the US to begin a new life in a land of opportunity.

Lay Lay and Let Let exemplify what Breakthrough is all about! They are academically accomplished, emotionally aware, socially mature, and heavily involved in their communities and extracurricular activities. These resilient teenagers have learned to navigate and thrive in a new country and also serve as advocates for themselves and champions for their families.

Like so many young immigrants, Lay Lay and Let Let faced the challenges of learning English, a crucial skill in their immigration journey. With zeal to master English, they have both immersed themselves in Breakthrough’s writing intensive courses—each attending 120 hours of instruction over the past three summers. Their efforts culminated in a personal narrative essay capstone project for the Breakthrough Leaders program.

While we are happy that Lay Lay and Let Let have adjusted so well and are a part of the Breakthrough community, we want to acknowledge their feelings about their native country. Lay Lay and Let Let lament the lack of visibility that their native country’s civil war has garnered on the world stage. Moreover, they fear the Karen people and culture will vanish. They are committed to preserving the rich traditions of their heritage and are active with their family in the Karen Cultural Organization of Minnesota.

We recognize the tremendous accomplishments of these two young women and all of our immigrant students and their families. It takes determination and resiliency to adapt to a new life in a new country, and we are grateful to have people with these qualities in our program. We will continue to ensure that our immigrant students and their families are welcomed, valued, and supported on their path to academic achievement.

Have a great Fourth of July everyone!

At the age of four, I immigrated to America from Thailand with my family. Although I was surrounded and supported by my loving family as a young child, I spoke only Hmong at home – and still do. Even so, I knew from that young age that my parents’ goal for me was to attend and graduate from college. Although they did not really know what college was or what it meant to go there, they had been told that college was crucial to achieving success in America. And they had come to America so that my siblings and I could succeed.

It was when I started school that I began to notice how different I was from the majority of white students around me. Most obviously, I spoke no English – although I quickly learned this new language. Also, it took time for me to understand many of the cultural norms for school behavior, like how to ask to go to the restroom. But hardest of all in elementary school was the loneliness I felt. I was an ambitious student whose parents insisted on success – but I found myself surrounded by many peers who did not seem to care about school at all. I felt isolated, alone, shy, and different.

But then came Breakthrough, and it changed my attitude toward learning, toward how I saw my future and especially how I saw myself. At Breakthrough, I was surrounded by other students who were just like me: motivated students who loved learning and wanted to support me. I gradually realized that I was no longer alone. The diverse Breakthrough community fostered my confidence in my ability to express my thoughts. It not only helped me break out of my shell, but it taught me what college really meant – why I wanted desperately to go; what to do to prepare; how to think about my future. Breakthrough enabled me to become an ambitious and determined student.

Breakthrough also helped me cultivate the personal qualities that would ensure my success. Qualities like perseverance, listening, curiosity, the value of hard work with equally ambitious peers. Instead of the shy, quiet student I had been, I learned to be comfortable with discomfort, to take risks. Before Breakthrough, I would never have spoken in front of anyone. After Breakthrough, I not only spoke, but sang, danced, and acted in front of 150 people. I found that I loved learning; I loved school; I loved my cohort; and I loved Breakthrough.

However, as I progressed through advanced and college classes in high school, I found myself retreating from my earlier exuberance. The higher the level of a course, it seemed that the lower the number of people of color was. Just as in elementary school, my confidence and curiosity began to seep away as I felt increasingly isolated. One day in English class, the teacher announced that we were going to discuss race. The first question was “What does ‘whiteness’ mean to you?” Most of the other (white) students had lots to say, but I was paralyzed by how to respond. So I said nothing. Had I been asked, I would have said, “Whiteness means the 1%, privilege, exclusivity.” But instead I remained silent and alone.

But, once again, Breakthrough came to my rescue. After all, I had learned to be comfortable with discomfort, to question, to express my opinions. Now, in advanced classes, I am gradually applying those earlier lessons in the increasingly rarified, non-diverse surroundings I find myself in. Even without my Breakthrough cohort with me, I am capable of speaking up and speaking out. 

Now I am headed to St. Olaf College in the fall on a full scholarship. My grateful thanks go to Breakthrough and all of you who support this program – a program that can awaken a shy Hmong immigrant and transform her into an ambitious, aware scholar. Please know that your support has given me a future I never dreamed could really be mine.

During my senior year of high school in 2014, I was on this stage, speaking to you. I ended that speech with a statement that I truly still believe. In that speech, I said, “I moved to America 8 years ago from Ethiopia speaking absolutely no English. Here I am today, speaking in front of all of you as a Gates Scholar and a future Pomona College graduate. I don’t think you need any more proof that Breakthrough is the best program in the world. I love Breakthrough with all my heart and hope to someday come back and work for them to teach more students like me.” Re-reading the speech, I couldn’t believe I was that wise 4 years ago.

Since then, my life has continued to blossom in expected and unexpected ways. I’m actually graduating from Pomona College in a week. While there, I led the first ever black alternative spring break for 18 Pomona students. The program still continues today. I’ve mentored students on financial literacy and have also helped incoming black freshmen accommodate to Pomona. After my sophomore year, I got an internship with Facebook, did well, and was invited back the following summer. I guess they really liked me because I will be working for Facebook starting this fall. In addition, I planned a very successful fundraising event for hurricane relief and raised over $4,000 from student donations. Also, I received a grant to do a project on menstrual education for women in Ethiopia, so I will be doing that this summer. Pretty amazing, right? However, I credit most of my success to Breakthrough. I really do and I’m not just saying that because I am up here. Breakthrough helped me with all of these accomplishments. Everything started because of Breakthrough. I learned about my capabilities and my intelligence because of Breakthrough. Breakthrough instilled in me the value of working hard, going after my passion, being excited about learning, and reaching out to my network whenever I needed help. I’ll forever be grateful. That’s why I flew across the country to come give this speech right before finals.

But guess what? I am not here to talk about my accomplishments. I want my speech to be about failure and hardship because it has been my failures and hardships that have led me to those accomplishments.

I failed my first test ever in college. This may not seem like a big deal, but it felt like my world had ended when I failed not one but multiple tests during my time at Pomona. I thought everything I had worked so hard for was going to waste. The math classes did not make any sense to me and it felt like everyone around me knew exactly what was going on. And they did. Which frustrated me even more. I struggled being an Economics major because I initially did not understand half the things the professor was saying. Whenever the professor would ask, “So what are your questions?” in my head, I was always thinking, “Umm everything?” “Hmm I’m so confused, I don’t even know what my questions are.” I was lost and I felt scared to ask questions in a classroom where sometimes I was the only black woman.

What took me awhile to understand about academics at Pomona or any college is that it was different from high school and extremely challenging. Students also come in at different levels, and comparing myself to how fast my classmates understood the material wasn’t getting me anywhere. After I realized that doing nothing and complaining was probably going to actually ensure failure, I started taking action. I did exactly what Breakthrough taught me as a 7th grader: I asked for help.

1. I went to office hours and told my professors I was confused. I literally walked in and told them, “Yeah, I’m going to fail your class because I don’t understand anything.” I discovered that professors want to help and I can’t say that enough.

2. I found a quantitative skills center that tutors students for free and did all my homework with another student who had already taken the class.

3. I found a study group with other students to get started on my homework and bounce off ideas. Sometimes your friends are in class with you which makes it easier to find study groups but sometimes they’re not so you have to step out of your comfort zone and meet new people

Because academics are going to be hard in college, don’t sit and complain when that happens. Take action because there are resources available for you. You just have to seek them out because no one is going to come and say, “Oh you look confused, let me help you.” I learned to be honest with myself about my confusions and hardships. I stopped blaming people for my own failures and took action. The key lesson here is that I didn’t wait for someone else to help me, I learned to be my own self advocate. As you go into college and life, be your own self advocate. Speak up and speak loud.

Academic failures are just one example. There were social failures where I struggled to find balance between doing fun things with friends and doing my homework . There were emotional failures where I struggled to find my inner peace. There were physical failures where I was sick for a whole year and couldn’t find the right care because no doctor knew what was wrong with me. I honestly could go on for a long time about my failures but in all those instances where I did fail, I was honest and owned up to the problem. I also developed the courage to ask for help so that I could find others to work with me.

Seniors, you will fail and you will face hardships in college. Multiple times. Life will get really difficult. And sometimes you’ll question if you really belong there or deserve to be there. And the answer is, “Yes you do.” And you will finish college. You will learn through failures and hardships because when you fail, you learn — and you think critically about how to overcome those failures and hardships in the future.

I’m going to end with these affirmations. I’ve been reciting certain statements to myself in the mirror and it always makes me feel better. I want you to look at yourself every day and I want you to say or think these statements whenever you question yourself. I would like everyone to repeat after me:

I am worthy.

I am enough.

I am smart.

I deserve to be here.

I am deserving of all good things coming my way.

I will graduate.

As I mentioned before, none of my learning to cope with failure would have been possible without Breakthrough. Since 7th grade, Breakthrough has baked into me the values of communication, striving to understand, relishing hard-work together, being grateful, being curious, living the growth mindset and persisting. With hard-work, teamwork, curiosity, perseverance, and gratitude, all the qualities that Breakthrough teaches us, we can overcome any failure in college and beyond.

Thank you all for supporting this transformative program!