My wonderful husband

I'm so lucky to get married with this caring, wonderful man. He was always there for me, supported n helped me go through all this emotional, difficult as well as beautifully happy time. He was there during my labor, held my hand, controlled my breath and calmed me down. He shared with me every moment of this labor, maybe not physically but emotionally and psychologically. After my labor time, he was there all the time by my side to support me, did everything I ask, took care of the baby when I rested and watched over me n the baby. He always opened such a big arm n heart to protect us, took good care of us and comforted us. He calmed the baby down, changed baby's diaper, he was in charged of all the overwhelming paperwork or information from the nurses n doctors.

He kept saying thanks to me for giving him such a beautiful, perfect, sweet little baby. Thanks me for giving him such a big gift, most beautiful moment n most precious thing in his life. He showed his love to the baby n to me. He paid all of his attention and time to me and the baby. He made me feel safe, calm and be loved. 

When I saw him carry the baby, hug her with all of his caution n loving arm, I just feel like falling in love with him all over again. Or when he hold her to calm her down, changed diaper for her, or when he hold my hand to help me to go the restroom, hug me to release me from being stress; I saw in him such a big, sweet, warm-hearted and most caring husband ever.

Even when we got back home, he and I took turn to get up in the middle of the night to take care of the baby's need. He cooked and brought food to my bed to make sure I'm well-fed to feed the baby. He wanted me to rest, to sleep, to not worry about anything else. He changed baby's diaper, put her to sleep, played with her to let me take my time n rest. I really don't need anything else better than that. 

I feel like I'm showering in love, care, n happiness. There will be nothing else in the world I would want more than this precious, happy little family of mine. 

My mother, my hero

Most of us always have someone we look up to and aspire to be alike. For me, that person happens to be my mother. Looking back at what she has done during her life, I’m so proud to be her child. My Mom influenced many aspects of my life by her personality and the way she lives. Today I want to pay this tribute to my mom – my hero. The three most memorable characteristics of her: she is a wonderful human-being; a strong and independent Vietnamese woman; and she respects and values education highly.

My Mom - My Hero

My Mom is a wonderful human-being. Generous, kind, loving, caring and supporting – my mother possesses all these qualities.

She empathizes to people who have less than her. She donates her time and money to the community. She taught me to be compassionate and forgiving. Her life principle is “It’s better to give than to receive” and she truly lives by it.

She takes good care of my sister and me, and including my Dad. Even though my Dad has not done his role of a Father and Husband really well, my Mom still forgives him, welcomes him to the family and takes care of him. She loves her family no matter what.

My mother was always there for me. She loves me unconditionally. Have you ever experienced that feeling when somebody trusts you supports you so much, you have that strength that you could anything? My Mom gave me that courage. She always tells me that “You have a power to do whatever you want. As long as you never give up”. She’s the one that makes me believe there is nothing impossible.

Surprise Cave in Vietnam 2012

I respect my mother for being kind and generous. I admire her for being strong and independent.

As a Vietnamese woman who was raised to be a traditional housewife, my mother is beyond and above just to be a good wife. She’s the most strong and independent Vietnamese woman I’ve ever known of.

Vietnamese people used to live close to each other. You can easily find a whole family living on a same road or in a same small village. The older Vietnamese generation did not want to move or change, they were scared of new things. My mother broke all those traditions and moved away from the family.

She was the bread-winner of our small family, she raised me and my sister on her own.

She doesn’t expect any help from other people or relatives, even from my Dad. She fixed all the broken furniture in the house, changed the light bulbs and painted the whole house by herself. She is a woman who has to take many roles: Mother – Father, housekeeping – bread winner.

Hai Phong 2014

Now you know that my mother is not only a wonderful human-being, but also a strong and independent woman. That is not all. She’s smart and understands that knowledge matters to life.

My Mom respects and values education highly.

She finished 4 years in university herself. Way back then, people thought women should not study too much. In my mother’s college course, there were only 10 women and 100 men. She was the only woman to get her degree. That’s why she got married really late at the age of 30. Education has played a major role in her life.

When I finished high school, we had some financial problems. She still tried her best to put me through college. She dealt with a lot of stress and went through various difficulties. The college entrance test in Vietnam is really competitive. I had 3 months to review all the high school knowledge before taking the test. It was stressful for both of us. However, with wise advice, she made me understand how important education is and motivated me to carry on.

Malaysia 2014

Thanks to her hunger and respect for knowledge, I got my education today. It is a great gift that she has passed on me.

In conclusion, my Mom is truly an amazing person, wonderful Mother, and strong woman by being kind, independent and respectful for knowledge. My mother was always be there for me, through good and bad, through thick and thin, through my trouble in high school, my college and lastly my decision to move to America. She has always had my back. Without her, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. So I would like to end this speech with a quote as tribute to my mom: "A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take." - Gaspard Mermillod

My wedding day 

How to travel internationally

What is on your Bucket List? If you haven’t heard the term “Bucket List”, it’s a list of dreams you want to fulfill before you die. First thing on my Bucket List is “Travelling around the world”. How to prepare for travelling abroad? What steps you need to do before travelling internationally? I’ll help you find the answers to these questions today. An overboard trip require a careful plan, it includes these steps: learn about your destination, well preparation, and parking

I.                   First of all, knowledge of your destination is important. You may have heard about some places before, but there will be a lot of things you need to be aware of when you plan your trip.

1.      You need to do some research to view more specific information about the country or area. Thing can get lost easily, especially when people misunderstand in communication. A typical, innocent gesture from US could mean something completely different in other parts of the world. So learning about the custom of the new place is always useful. ( give example: V sign palm inward = victory in the U.S, = middle finger in England& Australia; beckon with index finger toward you = summon someone in the U.S, = call dogs in Philippines: punishable by arrest)

Vsign palm inward - US: victory, England: Middle finger

Beckon - US: summon someone, Philippines: call dogs

2.      Some country is beautiful and interesting to visit, like Thailand, however there are a lot of protests going on in this country. And you have to watch out for terrorist in some other places. So be aware of travel alert and warning.

Travel Alert: protest in Thailand

3.      If you break local laws while abroad, your US passport won’t help you avoid arrest and the US Embassy cannot get you out of jail. Thus, be knowledgeable of the local laws, it’s sometimes vastly different from our own.

4.      Some information to get around the area will come in handy. Research about where to visit, what to eat, how to contact to people….

After you got all the information needed and feel excited for discovering the new place, you will still need to do some more steps to prepare for the trip.

II.                It’s not the fun part, however, it’s extremely crucial, you need to do these things to be well-prepared for your trip.

1.      You should apply and finish all the required travel documents ahead of time, such as passport, Visa, flight ticket, travel itinerary, hotel confirmation…Some papers could take up to several weeks and the steps are confusing. You should have them all copied and place copies in your luggage.

2.      Make sure you have the contact information for the nearest U.S embassy in case of emergency. If something bad happens and you have nowhere else to go, this will be your life-saver.

3.      You should notify the bank, Credit Card Company or other financial institutions that you are going overseas. Get vaccine shots if the information about that country raise a red flag about disease issues. Get some local currency of the place you will travel on hand.

Now you are knowledgeable and well – prepared, you can just collect some clothes and be well on your way, you think?? Oh no, actually packing is the last important step.

III.             Let’s pack smart!!

1.      What’s packing smart? It mean light, minimum and necessary stuff. I highly recommend you to use a travel kit which is travel sized shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, tooth brush, tooth paste, facial foam and so on …

2.       You should be aware of the rules of the flight: no liquids, weapons, seeds, or plants…. I fly with Delta all the time and their rule is: 2 check-in bags which weigh 50 lb. or less; 1 carry-on bag and one personal item that fit the restriction size.

3.      Thinking ahead when you pack your stuff. Don’t forget to label your bags in case one gets lost. Separate your stuff. Split up your bank cards and cash to different pockets as well. Just remember, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Besides that, tag your bags with something colorful or noticeable so you can easy identify them when you get off the plane.

4.       On the flight day, be at the airport 1 -2 hours early. Have all document and information needed in a small bag that you always keep next to yourself, such as passport, flight ticket, phone numbers for emergency, and the hotel’s address and phone number.

After all those preparation, the only thing you need to do now is to keep an open mind, and get ready to have a blast.

Travelling is one of the best activities to expose you to a new culture, broaden your mind, allow you to meet new people and experience the wonders of the world. To be able to have a safe trip and a fun experience without bad memories, a good plan and well- preparation is key. Knowledge of your destination and thinking ahead for situations will help you have a good plan and a great trip.

Vietnam vs America

How many of you have lived in a foreign country and experience culture shock? I have. I’m from Vietnam and I came to America 5 years ago. To me, there are so many differences between where I grow up, Saigon and where I live now, Newport News. Today, I’ll share with you the differences between these 2 cities in 3 basic subjects: food, language and traffic.

The beauty of Vietnamese people and the traditional dress - Ao Dai

To begin, I think the major problem for everyone to live in a foreign country is the language barrier.

When I first moved to America, I had difficulty speaking and understanding English. I smiled all the time and said OK even though I didn’t understand. After living here for a while, I’ve learned one great thing about America: it’s a “melting pot”. Americans are understanding to my mistake and encourage me to ask question when I don’t understand.

On the other hand, tourists who travel around Saigon have no worry about communication since English has become a global language. However, it’s really not easy for you to try to learn Vietnamese. Vietnamese people are friendly and they laugh in any situation. Unfortunately, they will laugh at you as well if you make a mistake trying to pronounce a Vietnamese word.

Learning a new language is always a challenge, but if you understand the culture, love the language and the people enough, you will have huge motivation to learn and have no problem to carry it on.

The beauty of Vietnam will make you fall in love since the first sight

Saigon by night

Second, food is one of my favorite subjects.

Anthony Bourdain stated in his No Reservation show that “Vietnam is a clash of cultures mixed with a hectic urban pace and people who are serious about eating.” That’s pretty true.

Thick, hot Vietnamese coffee drips slowly into the sweeten condensed milk – it’s how we start our day. Unlike Starbucks or Dunking Donuts coffee, the strong taste of finely ground, dark roasted coffee with the thick milk lingers in your tongue and wakes you up for a new day to come.

Thick, dark coffee is one of most famous Vietnamese food

Our most popular soup is Pho which is a bow of rice noodle with either beef or chicken in broth and served with many choices of fresh herbs. The most popular food in Newport News, in my opinion, are fast foods which will be deep fried and very greasy. There is nothing in this area can compare with the distinctive flavor of Pho.

Pho Bo - Beef noodle soup

Pho Ga - Chicken noodle soup

Street food is a very special characteristic of Vietnamese culture. You can find it anywhere, at any corner of Saigon’s street. At night time you can see a lot of opened flame on street with various choices of tasty grilled meat. In Newport News, I can barely see any food vendor around. Most of food vendors in America will gather to the big city where there are a lot of tourist such as New York or Washington D.C only.

Food vendor is a part of Vietnamese culture

It's getting crowded at night with all different kinds of BBQ

Food is the spirit of a culture and it can bring people together. The differences between the two countries in food actually expresses its differences in culture.

Finally, traffic in Saigon is crazy to compare with Newport News.

The variety of transportation is a common part. Whatever vehicle used in Newport News is commonly used in Saigon. However, most Vietnamese ride scooters because Saigon’s roads are much narrower than roads in Newport News. They have the advantage of being able to enter all the narrow alleys that are off limits to car’s access. 

Scooters is the most common transportation in Vietnam

Public transportation seems more popular in Saigon than in Newport News. There are a lot of buses and taxi. There are a motorbike – taxi in Saigon which are very convenient and available at most of street corners.

Buses are popular and crowded

Traffic laws in Saigon are more like suggestion instead of laws. Daring people break the rules of road constantly which make traffic there horrible. Tourists will have a hard time passing through traffic in Saigon, especially in rush hour. Unlike Saigon, driving in Newport News is less stressful and safer because the U.S has a good system of streets and highways. In addition, people here are willing to follow the rules and keep in mind that safety first.

Traffic jam is overwhelmed in the big city such as Saigon

It's scary since nobody will stop for you to go across street

According to those differences, I absolutely prefer to drive in Newport News to Saigon.

All in all, I’m fortunate to have experienced living in both nice cities, Saigon and Newport News. The different culture between the 2 cities create the differences of the most basic subject such as language, food, and traffic. Disregard to those differences, I love both places. One is where I were born and raised, one is where I found my true love. Truly, as long as I keep an opened mind and willing to challenge myself, I’ll be happy no matter where I am.

Sai Gon - Newport News

Twist and turn

There are always so many twists and turns in life that you would never ever have expected. Five years ago, I would never have thought that I would marry to an American and stay in America. Three years ago I would never have believed my sister would lay her trust in God insanely to go against the whole family. And just a year ago I would never have been worry a bit about my siter-in-law's health with breast cancer!!! Seriously, things have changed too much in those five years that it seems like just a wink of eyes.

The time I just met Andrew, I'm still looking for a fairy tail kind of love, such as a love-at-first-sight or an instant connection. However, things had been so smooth between me and him. There was no pressure, no tension or any obstacle in our relationship. Things had been as smooth as it could be and it gave me a feeling like "Look, how things could be so easy when I'm with him, just as it's meant to be". And just like that, our love and our trust slowly grows, even until now, we still on our adventure to understand the partner. We grow old together and never stop learning about each other and surprising each other. That's how we keep our relationship working.

My sister is now walking on her own path that completely separates her with the whole family. It's not that we family don't support the faith in God or Catholic, her religion is a strangest and weirdest religion we've known of, though. First of all, whole family believe in Buddhist, it's such a huge change that she chose God over Buddha and family. Second, her religion goes again the entire believe in thousands years about the worship of Vietnamese people. She didn't want to join in any party with family for the death anniversary and even insulted family's belief sometimes. She's changing to be a completely different person to who I've known before. Things are even seem worse when it also goes again the world Catholic or Christian believe. It's on its own and believes on its own God. It doesn't celebrate Christmas and state that the holiday the whole world have been believing for thousand year is just fake, is a joke, is a trick of Satan....bla...bla...bla... Worst of all, she doesn't even respect my Mom anymore. She believes all people have only one Dad and Mom, who is God. She and my Mom just the two spirit meet each other in life. And so, there is no need to look up to my Mom as a "Mom"!! My Mom just looses my sister like that, by a stupid religion. She can walk her own way, just like me walk out of the country, but it's really unacceptable when she just simply forgets where she comes from and drops off her identity like that.

About 2 years ago, my sister-in-law's business was blooming and doing so well that make me be happy for her as well as so jealous of her talent. She is smart, beautiful, creative and gifted. She have a wonderful family with a hilarious, kind and smart husband and 3 beautiful little angels that are just as smart and funny as their parents and such wonderful kids. And in the middle of all the wonderful things happen around her, there is only one thing happens, that such a big twist and turn - breast cancer. No one has ever expected that event at this time of life and at her young, beautiful, blooming age. With all the God's bless, I'll pray for her everyday, for those little angels that they could bring hopes, loves and joys to Leah's family. Have she strong to overcome all these obstacles, and hold tight on life for a better future. 

In those 5 years living in America, I have seen 6 babies been born, and have not made myself one :| There was baby Adam, Leah's third baby. She didn't plan to have him, however God have a bigger plan for her! There were Tam's babies, and she had 2 little cuties, one boy and one girl. There was Chaya's baby, I was still go out on the beach with her the day right before she found out she carry another spirit inside her. There was Dolly's baby, such a little princess. I saw Dolly enjoy dressing up her cutie everyday just as happy as playing with Barbie! :) And there was Nancy's baby, the friend I just made when I moved to America. Beside that, there were a lot of friends at home have gave birth. Specially my BFF - Hanh, the special one that I was lucky enough to go home and join in her wedding. And I was lucky enough to become God mother of that baby. Although I couldn't spend time with that daughter a lot, I'll look after her all my life and never refuse any request from her or her Mom!!! That's my little girl, who carry the lifetime friendship between me and her mom, and I'll let her know how special she is when she grow up. I'll let her know "how I met her mother" and "how her dad met her mother" :)))))

Life is full of unexpected changes. I believe things happen for a reason, we are too small to understand those reasons, so just LET IT BE and make the best out of any situation. There is up and down in life, that's life supposes to be. So when we feel like we are at bottom, just know that nobody is going down forever, we will go down and then we will go up. It's just like a roller coaster, so sit tight, relax and enjoy the ride. 

Mutual Funds

Abstract

J. Paul Getty says: "Money is like manure. You have to spread it around or it smells." Investment can be risky and tricky. However, that’s the smart way to make your money work for you. There are thousand ways to spread your money, yet mutual fund is a safe and least expensive way to invest. Like other investments, they have advantages and disadvantages. That’s why we always need to learn and understand them in order to decrease the risk, yet at the same time, increase the reward. If your learn how to use them correctly, mutual funds will become your outstanding money tree. Investing in mutual funds require patience and confidence, just like real estate. You put an amount of money into a house or funds, then the price goes down and you get nervous. You sell them after only three or four years, when you have not made anything out of them yet. The key to succeed here is to do your research and believe in yourself. This research will give you a simple and clear overview about mutual funds and help you understand the basic way in which they work.


Keywords: mutual funds, succeed, investments.

What is a Mutual Fund?

A mutual fund is a pool of money from investors. A fund manager invests this pool of money in stocks and bonds market in order to meet a specific investment objective. The fund manager can be an investment company which handles various investments including stocks, bonds and money markets. For investors with limited time, expertise, or experience, mutual funds offer the perfect choice of investments at a very low cost. Each mutual fund is managed by a professional money manager who will decide where your money will go. The mutual funds investors will agree on sharing the brokerage expenses, management fees, and other operating costs incurred by the fund. Mutual funds have existed for more than 80 years and become the most common investment for average Americans.

The advantages of Mutual Funds 

Instant diversification:


If you have a little money to invest, the money will not buy many shares of single stock in the market. You also need to buy two or three different stocks to reduce the risk of losing all your money if they plummet in price. By pooling money together in mutual funds, shareholders can instantly diversify their investment without the large cost to create individual portfolios. According to Jordan E. Goodman, “If two or three stocks in the portfolios get hit hard, your losses will be much more limited because the value of many of the other stocks will probably be holding their own or going up at the same time.” (2002, p.90)


Professional management:


Professional managers use their skills and expertise to handles shareholder’s money. They have an open access to extensive company research and market information. Not every investor can have time and full knowledge to manage the personal investments at a reasonable cost like having a professional manager.


Save money and time:


With regard to the two advantages mentioned above, we can clearly see how mutual funds can save you money and time. If you are a regular full-time employee and want to earn money without taking up investing seriously, this will be the best way. In addition to this, it doesn't cost much to start your investment. One to two hundred dollars is enough to purchase smaller mutual funds. (“The advantages of mutual funds”, 2012)


Choose your risk level:


There are many choices of funds that you can match with your financial goal, time horizon and your risk tolerance. According to Infoplease.com, there are three basic kinds of funds:


Money market funds: Considered the lowest risk, they are limited by law to certain high-quality, short-term investments. Investors rarely lose money on these funds, but it's possible.


Bond funds: These have a higher risk than money market funds, but pay higher yields as well. Most bond funds also have a credit risk. “If you want safe investments, consider government bond funds; if you're willing to gamble on high-risk investments, try high-yield bond funds; and if you want to keep down your tax bill, try municipal bond funds." (Basics of investing in mutual funds, para.6)


Stock funds: These offer the highest returns, but involve more risk than other funds. A stock fund's value can rise and fall quickly in a period of time but generally a stock fund's performance over long-term is better than the other funds.


Easy access to funds:


You can get in and out with mutual funds easily. With just a phone call or few clicks of the mouse, you can buy and sell funds quickly. This instant liquidity can be a big advantage. By law, the funds have to allow you to redeem your shares at the current NAV. Therefore, you can participate anytime in the market if you suddenly see the chance of earning profit. On the other hand, you can easily sell a handful of shares if you know it will be difficult to get a decent price in the near future.

The disadvantages of Mutual Funds 

Taxes


Taxes are the biggest disadvantage of mutual funds. With an individual stock, you don't have to pay taxes as long as it sits on your portfolio. However, with mutual funds, you will receive a taxable distribution, even if you never sell a share or reinvest your gain. Your mutual funds are required either pass out all their gains each year, or pay corporate income tax on them. When you get a distribution, the taxes become yours.


Lack of control


Having a professional manager is an advantage of mutual fund, on the other hand, also becomes a weakness. The fund manager makes all the decisions on buying and selling stocks without your opinions. In additional, you cannot ascertain the exact make-up of a fund's portfolios.


Annual fees


“Mutual funds charge an annual fee of about 1 to 2 percent of your total invested assets every year whether you make new investments or not”.(Jordan E. Goodman, page 92). These costs and taxes can be a big bite of the total profit earn by mutual fund shareholders.


Performance:


During the high-tech crash of the 1999-2002, millions of mutual funds investors lost a lot of money because their professional managers had invested a large amount of money in technology and Internet stocks (Goodman, 2002, p.92). The historical performance of the funds sometimes do not show the true value of the funds. It easily guide investors, even the professional investment specialists, down the wrong path.

Keys to succeed with Mutual Funds

The magic money-making part in mutual funds is compounding. Compounding is the ability of assets to generate their own earnings. It means you can make interest from the performance gains plus any dividends and reinvested capital. The longer you invest, the more powerful compounding gets. When you invest in mutual funds, it takes longer to get the same profit that you do with the other types of investments. You need to be careful when selecting your fund, and stick with your choice over time. Based on the example in the book How to make money in stocks (William J. O’Neil, 2002, p.237), if you purchase $10,000 of a growth-stock fund that averages about 15% a year over a period of 35 years, here is how compounding might occur:


First five years $10,000 becomes $20,000


Next five years $20,000 becomes $40,000


Next five years 40,000 becomes $80,000


…....


At the 35th year 640,000 becomes 1.28 million!

As you can see, compounding interest is the way to make money work for you, instead of you working for it. So the key here is a good starting choice and to stick with it. To achieve success, you need to do your homework! Do some careful research before you decide to invest your money into any kind of fund, and stay with it long-term. Nothing is guaranteed, however the example above could happen to you if you plan and invest in mutual funds correctly. Trust in yourself and be patient. Even though the market will be up and down and the economy may go into a recession, don't be nervous. Instead, try to look ahead several years. After raining, the sky will be brighter. Like William J. O'Neil said: “Buy right and sit tight!”

References

ABC's of Mutual Funds | Infoplease.com. (n.d.). Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help. | Infoplease.com. Retrieved July 4, 2013, from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001495.html


Basics of investing in mutual funds. (n.d.). CNN Money. Retrieved July 4, 2013, fromhttp://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson6/index.htm


Goodman, J. E. (2002). Everyone's money book. Amherst Enterprises Ltd.


Hirschey, M., &Nofsinger, J. (2010).Investments analysis and behavior. (2nd ed., p. 701). New York: McGraw-Hill,Inc.


Investopedia. (2012, March 13). The Advantages Of Mutual Funds. Investopedia - Educating the world about finance. Retrieved July 4, 2013, from http://www.investopedia.com/articles/basics/03/040403.asp


O'Neil, W. J. (2002). How to make money in stocks. (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill,Inc.

Creator or Victim, it’s your choice

Playing the Creator role turned my life completely to a wonderful road that I have never imagined. That was the time I had a chance to go to America as an exchange student and joined the Work and Travel program. This is a program for students around the world to go to work in American for a short period of time and then use that money to travel. A friend of mine was playing Victim role in that situation and that’s how I got a clear sight of how different between the Creator response and the Victim response. My friend was so scared of the entire new things, challenges and changes that we would meet such as being far away from family and encountering a new culture and new language.


Being far away from friends, family and all the familiar things was the scariest to her. She thought that she would be so sad, homesick, and lonely. I, on the other hand, chose to think of it as a chance for me to learn how to take care of myself and to be independent for the first time in my life. How interesting to meet and make new friends from all over the world.


We were also aware of the new things we would have to adapt to in America. New culture was the first things that came up in our knowledge. I have heard of so many stories about people getting culture shock. They could not stand all the differences and gave up in the middle of the program. I knew that travelling to another country and adapting to a new culture requires an opened mind and an accepting attitude. Because of doing that, I have learned so many interesting things and realize just because someone has a different custom than us, doesn’t mean they are bad; it just means they believe in a different thing.


Language was the biggest challenge. We were so scared of speaking a completely different language than our mother tongue. We would feel lost; we would not understand much when people talked around us. It would be impossible to communicate with everyone, and it’s difficult when you cannot express yourself. But that was a challenge that I looked for when I entered this program. I wanted to practice my English, and there is no better way than to live in the environment. I took it as a challenge and faced with it rather than running away from it.


Finally, my friend was so frightened of the challenge, she stayed at home. I went to America with an opened mind and positive thinking to learn a whole new world. As a student, I’ve been in the Victim role many times, but that one time only, I chose a Creator role, and it changed my life in an incredible way. It’s your choice what role you want to play in your life, and it’s your choice where your mind will lead you. So why be a Victim, when you can be a Creator?