“Parents Who Trade Their Lives For Yours”

Ling Becker

Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota | Chinese | She/her/hers

With a few hundred dollars and a big dream for their children, my parents immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong when I was 5-years-old. My aunt was a student at the University of Minnesota, so between her and a local church, they sponsored my family, and we began our new life in pursuit of the American Dream. 

My parents were extremely hard workers. For a while, they worked multiple jobs and received public assistance in order to make ends meet. Because I didn’t speak English I remember entering kindergarten completely confused. Fortunately, at age five, I spent close to a year in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in the Minneapolis Public School system but picked up the language quickly. In the years following, we slowly climbed the economic ladder. My parents both worked assembly jobs, and with my father’s strong technical skills, he was able to gain more opportunities even with his limited language skills and lack of education credentials. 

By the time I was in eighth grade, we were able to build a home and move to the suburb of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. I remember the great effort my mom undertook to help us integrate. I brought friends over and she would insist on making dishes like spaghetti even though that’s not what we normally ate. My parents would eat spaghetti with chopsticks. 

As a middle schooler, fitting was hard and there weren’t many other Asians at school. I noticed that the only other Asians at school were Korean kids adopted by White families. We were the same, but also very different.

My parents were completely dedicated to giving us a better life. They sacrificed everything for my sister and I.They often did little for themselves. They made sure we participated in sports, worked hard in school, and encouraged us to achieve as much as we possibility could. We both went on to obtain graduate degrees. My sister has a degree in occupational therapy, and  I have a Masters in Public Administration from Syracuse University. I was a Woodrow Wilson fellow. That immigrant experience seems so distant to me now. 

Today, I work in the economic development field where I help businesses grow and be drivers of economic vitality in communities. But, what good is economic prosperity and growth if it isn’t accessible by all groups within our society? I have come to realize that I have an opportunity and obligation to use my leadership role to ensure that all people have access to the same American dream. That dream that my parents believed in so strongly that it led them to trade their life for mine in many ways. I believe economic prosperity and growth can be accessible by all groups within our society. 

Being in this field of work sometimes feels like eighth grade again when I was the only Asian kid in the room. I need to be confident in my role and abilities, and start fighting back against my hesitations, fears, and anxiety. I cannot be afraid of the unknown, possible failures, and setbacks. In order to fight back these insecurities, I have to dig deep emotionally. I try to imagine what it must have been like for my parents when they landed at the MSP airport. I can never thank them enough, but I am able to work as hard as they did to magnify others. I do this to demonstrate to them that their sacrifices were not only a dream come true for their daughters, but for all the people I impact too.