My parents fled the Vietnam War, and as refugees, resettled into public housing in White Center. They worked hard to support my siblings and me, but we were raised by a village. When I was 7, my father was in a terrible car accident. Saddled with medical debt, we couldn’t afford to hire the around-the-clock care he needed, so I started working early to support our family. I was a janitor at my high school while working a second job in the evening, and in college I washed dishes to make ends meet.
That’s the story of our state. We have always been a resilient beacon of hope, at the forefront of innovation, and believers in an ethic that hard work will secure you and your family’s future. That’s my American Dream story. Now I am the first Vietnamese American elected to the Washington state Senate.
My family was fortunate to receive support in our time of need, but it shouldn’t require luck to succeed in Martin Luther King Jr. County. We can choose a better future for our community.