“All of Me”

Bert Lee

Ramsey, Minnesota | Hmong/Mixed Race | He/Him/His

My name is Brian Berg, I am fourteen years old. I’m Hmong and Caucasian. One of my talents is b-cubing, which is the process of solving a rubix cube really fast. My fastest time is 5.4 seconds. At the age of four, I loved solving puzzles. At five, I was solving two to three hundred puzzles in 10 to 15 minutes. The challenge of solving things at a fast pace is very rewarding to me. 

While visiting family in Las Vegas, a cousin of mine had an array of rubix cubes. He was able to solve it in one minute. At that time, I was only able to solve one side. So, when I got home, I started practicing. Then I started getting faster and faster. I watched YouTube and memorized different algorithms.

I went to a competition in the summer of 2016 and I loved it. After that, photographers, newspapers, and even Kare11 News ran stories about me. The exposure challenged me to do better. I think the mind is capable of doing much more, and I like to challenge myself to do better. This is probably why I have multiple talents. My other talents are saturating arithmetic, computer coding, wrestling, soccer, and more. 

The happiest moment of my life was when my two sisters, Xaybriana and Maybella, were born. For five years I was the only child. My mom was pregnant with my sister Xaybree, and when she born still on Christmas, it was a sad time. It’s made me appreciate my two sisters that I have now. 

I was beyond excited to become a big brother. I got to teach them how to walk and talk. But now, I sometimes regret teaching them how to talk; they just talk non-stop now. My best friends are my two sisters, because they make me very happy and teach me many life lessons like patience, how to work in a team, and how to share. 

I like being half Hmong and half Caucasian. Last year I wrote a documentary for national history day for my class about the Secret War in Laos. I was able to interview some leaders in the Hmong community. One who is well-known is Dr. Yang Dao. I learned about how much he risked and helped our Hmong community. It was very humbling. I believe that as a younger generation we need to be more educated about our own history to fully appreciate how we got here.