Simara Vongthongdy interview
Item
Title
Simara Vongthongdy interview
Creator
Vongthongdy, Simara
Banh, Jenny
Relation
Central Valley Southeast Asian Successful Voices
Coverage
Fresno, California
Date
2017
Rights
Copyright has been transferred to Fresno State
Identifier
SCMS_casv_00029
extracted text
>> And a new one. And let me do a second one. Hold on one second.
[ Inaudible ]
All right, hello. Welcome. Thank you so much for consenting to be interviewed. Can you please say your name, the date
and spell your name as well as give me verbal permission to record you at this time?
>> My name is Simara Vongthongdy, S-I-M-A-R-A, V-O-N-G-T-H-O-N-G-D-Y. And today is June 2nd. I do give you
permission to record me.
[ Inaudible ]
>> All right, so one second. I am going to check the date. So you are number five of the interviews, number five. And
can you spell slowly your name again?
>> S-I-M-A-R-A.
>> S-I-A.
>> M-A-R-A.
>> M-A.
>> R-A. Vongthongdy. V-O-N-G.
>> V-O-N-G.
>> T-H-O-N-G.
>> T-H-O-N-G.
>> D-Y.
>> D-Y.
>> Yes.
>> D-Y. So is it S-I-M-A-R-A space V-O-N-G-T-H-O-N-G-D-Y?
>> Yeah.
>> All right. And I will be e-mailing you exactly this back. And you are number five. Please, at any time, change it,
delete it, whatever you want. And this is all voluntary. You can delete the whole interview if you'd like. But the goal is
actually to improve graduation rates at Fresno State, to be a successful graduate like yourself. All right, okay, okay,
what is the gender that you identify as?
>> Female.
>> Female. What is your birth year?
>> 1989.
>> What is your ethnic group?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Laotian.
>> Okay, what was your undergraduate and graduate major?
>> A bachelor's in anthropology, with an emphasis in cultural anthropology, and a master's in multilingual, multicultural
education.
>> Master's in multilingual. And I was going to tell you later, I think I'll tell you during lunch, but we do have a--they
have a new ID that's online at channel islands that's hooked up now with Fresno, if you didn't know.
>> Oh, yeah. Gina is going to be part of->> Gina, yeah. And also the guy Ray at the library too.
[ Inaudible ]
What generation are you? First, 1.5 or second?
>> Second.
>> Okay. What is your mother and father's highest degree, educational?
>> My dad, he went to like a technical college [inaudible] and my mom graduated from high school.
>> Tech college.
[ Inaudible ]
And your mom graduated from high school.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay, graduated high school. All right, what was your family composition then and what is your family composition
now?
>> As in siblings?
>> Yes, like what did you grow up like? What did you grow up with? And then what is it now, 2017?
>> Okay, I had three brothers and one sister.
>> Three brothers and one sister, okay.
>> So there was five of us. Now, I have two children.
>> Okay.
>> And a husband.
>> Okay.
>> And my family lives with me still, so we have like a household of eight.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
[ Inaudible ]
>> And is that your grandparents or parents?
>> My parents.
>> Parents, okay. So household of eight. All right, what was your undergraduate major?
>> Undergraduate major?
>> I'm sorry, what was your undergrad GPA?
>> GPA?
>> Sorry.
>> It was like a 2.9.
>> Okay, what is your ultimate degree? You have a BA and master's, but is your ultimate degree aspiration?
>> I've had to go back to school next year for my Ph.D.
>> In what?
>> I'm thinking PsyD, actually, I want to do clinical psychology.
>> Oh, wow, okay. And so a PsyD in clinical. Interesting. Very important. Okay, psychology. Very cool. Okay, all
right. Would you say growing up you had a working class, middle, affluent family socioeconomics?
>> Low income.
>> Okay, what type of high school did you go to, a private or a public?
>> Public.
>> Okay, what was the racial demographics of your high school?
>> There wasn't a lot of white people. So it was mostly people of color. So Polynesian, Southeast Asians.
>> Where was this located actually?
>> Anchorage, Alaska.
>> Oh my gosh. Okay, I should write that down.
>> Anch East High School. It was kind of a bridge between like low income kids, and then like affluent kids, because it
was a high school in the middle. So it was mostly--you were everything but white in the school.
>> Okay, so the person of color. And, I'm sorry, can you say again, what was the ethnic groups again?
[ Inaudible ]
>> Hawaii. Also, southeast Asia. So Lao, Cambodians, Vietnamese [inaudible] as well.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Oh, wow.
>> And Puerto Ricans, Dominicans.
>> And how did they all get to Alaska?
>> Because like back in--well, they do it now. But like they pay to live there. So people are like, let's go to Alaska.
Also, there's a lot of jobs.
>> And then what were the jobs?
>> They either work in the [inaudible] so fishing or oil.
>> What would they fish for?
>> All types of seafood.
>> So these people of color would work in the [inaudible] and oil fields, and that's what drew them here.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay, excellent. Okay, and so the next line of questions, if you don't know, that's fine, because most people don't
know. I'm asking like [inaudible] questions, and so feel free to just say pass if you don't know the answer.
>> Okay.
>> All right, how--and again, most people, in fact, no one advanced. But how many Laos go to college? Why or why
not?
>> How many?
>> How many? What percentage of Laotian in America go to college? Or if you know the numeral number. And if they
do go to college, why? If they don't go to college, why not?
>> I believe it was 12% with a bachelor's degree a few years ago. It was actually 7%, and then it went up. But very few,
very few go past a bachelor's. There's a small percentage. I forget the number. That have a master's degree or higher.
And I have the statistic on my computer. I don't have it on me. But why do they not go to->> Why do they go? And why do they not go to college?
>> I believe they don't go to college because in our culture, they kind of look at more of like the short-term, just kind of
always in survival mode. Like I'd rather make money than quit like my job and then go to school. I mean, I think--and
then the cost of education, as well as like just trying to survive. They want to go to college. Most Lao boys are in gangs.
So they are either in jail or like they just don't want to go to college because they don't see themselves being like in these
careers, right? Especially when you don't see anybody else go to college in your community. And like do they go to
college? Well, I went to college because I wanted a better life for my family. I was the first one to go to college out of
five siblings. And so I wanted to be able to provide for my entire family, which I do now.
>> Oh, wow, okay. So you actually mentioned gangs and alternatives to college. So what are the other alternatives to
college that you see? And I want to go back to gangs. What do they offer that is attractive enough--that is like more
attractive? I want to get into that. What is the attraction for Asian males to go into gangs versus college? You said
survival mode. You said you don't see anyone else that goes to college. But what is the attraction for Asian males?
>> My brothers, I have two brothers in prison. One is surviving an 80-year sentence, and one is serving an 18-year
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
sentence for drugs. And well, he told me that he just was tired of being poor, and being in gangs offered him like a way
to make money, right? Because he sold drugs. And so he would make millions of dollars versus, he's like, why do I need
to college if I'm already making money? But he ended up in prison. And so for them, it's like they just don't want to be
bullied of course, too, like especially because, you know, we're refugees. And he just liked that lifestyle, that fast-paced
lifestyle, and it was better than being poor.
>> And then what about the females? Is there kind of gender issue? Did you feed female gang members? And were they
the same polls?
>> Back in the day, yes. Like in the 90s when I was growing--in my neighborhood, I couldn't join a gang. My brothers
would kill me. But it was other girls that like didn't have parents. There were like a lot of girls, they didn't have like their
parents couldn't control them. And I think it has a lot to do with like being refugees.
>> So we have a push that it's poverty and being refugees, like psychological. But the pull you're saying is economic.
>> Yes.
>> Was there any other pull other than economic to join a gang for the male in particular, but also the females? And you
talked about bullying.
>> I think it was the comradery, because we had to band together in our neighborhood.
>> Against?
>> Against other groups. We didn't grow up in a white neighborhood. My elementary school was like 92% non-white.
>> Okay.
>> And so it was like other groups fighting each other.
>> So you fought Puerto Ricans?
>> They live a lot of like Samoan and like southeast Asian rivalry. It was so weird. Then we grew up and we all became
friends. But my brother, my brother gets along with everyone. It's just, you know, they were able to control the
neighborhood.
>> Interesting. Okay, if you look at the numbers of Laotians and compare them to let's Sam, for instance, south Asian,
right? South Asian graduation rate in the nation is the highest in the nation at 70%. So there's a big difference, right?
Why do you think that south Asians have such a high graduation rate at 17%? 70%, sorry. And actually, it's actually
higher for [inaudible] versus Laotians who have lower. What is the difference? Why is there the disparity?
>> Our immigration [inaudible] we came as refugees. Most south Indians, like south Asians, they came from India for
economic purposes, right? And then they also are educated from their country. But most people in our community, Lao
people, are not educated. And like there's very few that were educated in France and stuff if they were in the military.
But it really didn't mean anything when they came to America, and they were like working. Like my uncle became a
janitor. Like if he was--he did, Laos, he worked with the CIA and all this stuff, and he speaks like seven different
languages. But when you come to America, it's like it doesn't mean anything like that you came as a refugee. I think
that's why south Asians are more successful in school than Laotians.
>> And then do you see any similarities between Laotian Americans to other southeast Asians, such as Vietnamese,
Cambodian, Filipino? What are the differences and similarities that you see in the college graduation rates?
>> I was in like Lao and Cambodia. Or statistically, it's Lao, Cambodia and [inaudible] at the bottom, right? And
similar, because you don't see a lot of Lao and Cambodian people go to college.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> So you see them as similar to you.
>> Yes.
>> Okay.
>> I do.
>> What about Filipino, Thai, Malaysian [inaudible].
>> So Filipino and Thai, a lot more of them go to college than Lao people. And I grew up with a lot of Filipinos in
Alaska, right?
>> Oh, really? Okay.
>> Yeah, and so they were like one of the first Asians up there. And so like for them, like their parents also like found
like careers that are stable, right? So they [inaudible] Filipino friends, they had money. Like their parents, they had cell
phones in middle school, braces, you know, like all the expensive things their parents could afford because their parents
worked at Fed Ex, they were RNs, you know, so they had like educational background, as well as stable careers. And so
for us, my mom, they worked--my parents worked in restaurants, or like at the oil, right? With five kids. And so but like
if you look at Filipino families, they don't have a lot of kids. Like Lao and Cambodian people, we have like five plus
kids, right?
>> Feel free to answer them. It's okay.
>> I'm going to make sure my dad is picking up my son. Okay.
>> So they had smaller families?
>> Yeah, they had smaller families, and their parents have careers.
>> And feel free to check if your son is being picked up.
[ Inaudible ]
>> Yeah, my dad is going to pick him up.
>> Priority. Okay, so they had smaller families.
>> Yeah, and for Thai people, they didn't come as refugees either. And so and then like Thailand, right, compared to
Lao, like Thailand, it's more developed mostly.
>> Is there any nuance difference that you see between let's say Laotian, Cambodian, Hmong, is there any--like you said
they're similar, but did you see any similarities?
>> Well, first, like there's like a bigger Hmong population, right? So they have more people in leadership roles, right?
They're in the school district and like government. But you don't see any Lao or Cambodian in leadership positions. And
I see that's the difference because the way that the Hmongs work in clans, right? But like a lot of Cambodians are very
divided. Like we have five different temples, like Buddha temples, because they can't work together. And so I think
that's a big barrier for Lao and Cambodians, like it's just we don't work in clan systems. It's kind of like as they came to
America, I feel like they're not collective anymore like they are in Lao, right? Because they're more like village type
mentality.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> How is the Laotian community? How is it divided in the United States?
>> It's like religion, right? The Christians and Buddhists. And then within the Buddhists, like they have a split between
the temples. So when it's new year, people pick which temple they go to. And back in the days like when I was younger
when I was born here in Fresno, they had Samokorn [phonetic], which is like kind of like a--Samokorn. Let me see. I
think it's like S-A-M-O-K-O-R-N. Or M, yeah.
>> M, okay.
>> But it's like, it was like, so all the leaders, right, all the men.
>> What is Samokorn, what is that?
>> It's a group. So they have a group, and then so when someone dies in the community, right, everyone pays in to help
pay for the funerals. When there's weddings, everyone, everyone puts their money together.
>> Really?
>> And that's how they used to work. But like now that the elders are dying, like us younger generation, we don't do
that.
>> You don't?
>> We don't have a group where we support each other. Because they've kind of been lost because all the people doing
that, they were leaders in Laos.
>> Oh, okay.
>> And so they didn't pass on that kind of leadership style, right? Like they didn't pass it on to our kids. They're like, oh,
just be American. Like they don't want us to do that. But we still kind of keep some of that culture. Like when
weddings, funerals, birthdays, like we always give each other money. And so I see that changing in the community
because people are kind of like for themselves, right? And in like America, there's like insurance now, you know?
People just buy policies instead of having like a community do that. But that's slowly dying off in our community.
>> Do you see that still going on in the Hmong community or the Cambodian community, or is it dying off, do you
think, in their communities as well?
>> I think for the Hmong community, they're kind of better at it because like they have like, you know, they were on a
class system. So like if you're a gang, right, then they have like reunions, and, you know, they get their kids involved
and stuff. But for Lao and Cambodians, they don't really get the younger generation involved in anything. And I work
with the communities, so like we mostly work with elders. And you don't see their kids. Like we don't see their kids
come to anything that they do, or like a lot of them don't speak Lao anymore, they don't hold the customs.
>> Oh my goodness. Okay.
[ Inaudible ]
Okay, so you're kind of predicting that this kind of communal system will die off, you think?
>> I think so. But it's still in like my generation, or my second generation, I'm 28 years old, and the people that are a
little older than me, we all have kids and stuff. We do come together. It has to be like a birthday or like someone dies.
Like right now, my husband's grandma died, so like everyone's there at the house like every day. So we always come
together when it comes to like major life events. But not like on a daily basis. When I was younger, my parents used to
always go to Lost Lake with all the other Lao people, and they would go to rolling park before we moved to Alaska.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
And that was kind of like how they kept community. But now it's not like that. Everyone's just, they just hang out, they
just keep to themselves. Especially like if they've gotten like an education, they don't talk to other Lao people.
>> Oh, interesting. So education, would you say, is a divider, in a way? Or is it the ones who are educated, they're not
coming back to help? Because you are educated, and you're kind of helping.
>> Yeah, for the most part, a lot of them just kind of, they marry white people. You know, they don't keep like Lao
customs. They don't eat Lao food, you know? But for me, it's different, because I grew up in Alaska. I feel like a lot of
people like hearing how they're like that, they're just like, oh, I'm educated now, like I don't want to--I feel like they kind
of look down on other Lao people once they get their education. There's just like, oh, I did it, why can't you attitude, you
know? Because I started a leadership community, and it was like Lao and Cambodian professionals. And it was why
should we help other people? Like why? They're like, what are we getting out of this, right?
>> Interesting.
>> Yeah.
>> How fascinating, this second generation. Because that's an interesting commentary. Is your husband Laotian?
>> Yes.
>> Oh, okay. I didn't know he was.
>> He was born in the refugee camps.
>> Oh, I thought your husband was Filipino. I always thought your husband was Filipino. I was like, oh, okay.
>> No, he's Lao.
>> Okay. Oh, interesting. Okay, interesting. All right, so we're at the end of the first one-third of the questions. Do
Laotian students have strong relations, sorry, strong relationships with administrators and faculties? Why or why not?
>> I don't feel like it because kind of like a cultural thing, right? Like I had a hard time ever asking for help. Like I
never asked for any help. I had two kids going through college. And I'd never ask for help. I would just struggle a lot
until like it got really bad, then I would e-mail for budgets. Like I think it's a cultural thing. Like we don't share our
problems. And we keep it to ourselves because like it's a personal matter. And that's just our culture, though. Yeah, it
was really hard for me. I didn't really get the idea of like networking, right? And like being like having a relationship
with teachers or principals and stuff until like I graduated. I was like, you know what? I need to kind of break out of my
shell. Because like most Lao people, they're just quiet. Like talking too much in our culture is like taboo. Yeah, my
house had to be quiet. Like we would get in trouble if we talked too much.
>> You're kidding. So, oh, I'll have to look that up. Do you think talking a lot in Asian culture is bad?
>> Like in our culture, they looked down on you if you talked too much.
>> Really?
>> Yes.
>> What is so wrong? I mean, why would it be bad?
>> I'm not sure. But I just remember my dad would get so mad when we talked. And like anywhere you go, like Lao,
they're kind of, they're quiet. They're not very loud.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Wow. Interesting. Okay, can you speak about asking questions, particularly in a gender manner? Is it okay to ask
questions in class? Is it okay for Lao males to ask questions in the culture on the family?
>> No, it's not okay to ask questions period. I think that's why it was so hard for me to ask questions, because like,
because we just don't question anything from like my parent. We don't question them. My parents told me to do
something, I would do it. There was like no choice. And it's different now that I have kids. Like I let them talk to me.
And like it kind of--you know, like not being able to ask questions or express yourself kind of gives you low self
esteem. And for males, I have two boys, and so my son, it is hard for him to ask questions too. I'm like, you need to
speak up.
>> Why do you think it's hard for him to ask questions? Is it culture again?
>> I believe so. Because we speak Lao to our kids. And we hold Lao customs. We eat Lao food. And my parents live
with me, so like my kids always share Lao, you know?
>> Oh, so it's like, it's kind of like the culture, it's reaffirming.
>> Yeah.
>> So is your son actually kind of growing up in basically the same culture you grew up in?
>> It's different, yeah. A little different because I'm more Americanized. I was born in the states. But I was born two
years after my parents came from the Philippines. They were in a refugee camp in the Philippines, so for me, I'm more
Americanized, right? And plus, I have a master's degree. Like my parents, they didn't have really, they didn't have high
education. And plus, I'm able to, because I work in non-profit and I work within schools and stuff, so I am able to
understand like the educational process and like I'm involved in my kids' school, I'm on their school councils, like my
parents never did any of that kind of stuff. So for my son, he kind of feels like more connected to his school and his life,
you know? But for me, like it was just so separate. I felt like we kind of raised ourselves, even though we didn't.
>> Well, in the culture, you probably did. I mean, you live with your parents, but in the culture. Okay, all right,
excellent. What was your favorite subject? What was your least favorite subject? And why or why not?
>> My favorite subject was English because, you know, just English being my second language and people used to
make fun of me, so I would like, I'm like I'm going to be the best speller, and I was like in the spelling bee, and I was in
AP English like my whole high school life. And I just, I love to write and I like to read and write, so English was cool.
But I would say history too. But I have a lot. I'm a nerd. I love history.
>> Why history?
>> History because my parents couldn't really explain like their background, right? And so I would read in Laos and
like the war and like I still do because I want to know more. I love the history behind things, especially like when it
comes to Buddhism too, because they don't explain anything to us. So like reading helped me. And then writing about it
was just kind of like therapy. And my least favorite subject would be science.
>> Okay, tell me why.
>> It was too technical for me. Yes, I just hated it. I hated doing experiments. It was not fun to me.
>> Okay, so hated experiments. Okay, what makes a good professor for you to pass a class or graduate? And thinking of
other Laotians as well, what makes a good professor? What makes a bad professor if you fail a class and not graduate?
So can you speak about that? What makes a good professor?
>> A good professor, I think for me, would be someone, a professor that's in tune with their students and knows like the
needs of the demographics of the room, right? I think a bad professor is one that discourages you. I had, like during my
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
master's program, like they didn't encourage me to graduate, one of them. And I was like, someone just died, I'm like,
I've got two kids, and I was like, I don't think I can do it, right? And she's like, you just take another semester. And I was
like, I'm not going to take another semester. That's like I've got to take more loans out, you know? And I talked to the
chair, and she was like, you can do this. And so for her, like to encourage me and made me believe in myself, you know,
because when you're stressed out, I have to deal with my whole family. I've got two brothers in prison. I have an autistic
son. It was like, it was very stressful to have like someone just encourage me. She talked to me for 20 minutes, and I
was like, okay, I can do this. And I did it.
>> Okay, awesome. And it's amazing what you did, by the way, amazing, with two kids. Okay, excellent. Thank you so
much. So have you ever been mentored in undergrad?
>> Sort of. Hank and Moley, they were kind of the closest to it. They talked to me a lot, and, you know, really got me
interested in anthropology, and kind of encouraging me to be more involved on campus. Because I would just come to
school and go home. I had two small kids. I was like, I've got to go, bye.
>> Of course. Of course. So what did they tell you to do?
>> Just I think because I was interested in anthropology, like we would do, like you know when, what's her name, Jane
Goodall came, and, you know, they went to go->> Jane Goodall came here?
>> She went to Bakersfield. She came to Bakersfield to do like a reading. And then the anthro students went, and then
like, just like doing, like I wasn't used to like doing events. I didn't go, but just like one example was like just when
things would happen, like we would always, like we would do stuff together, right? And I wasn't used to that because
like, I was like, I've got kids. Yeah, I never did. Like I didn't do a lot until like I kind of got into anthropology and doing
events and joining anthro club and stuff like that.
>> Oh, joining anthro club. Tell me more.
>> I wasn't really active. I joined, and then the Japanese club I joined too, and I wasn't very active too. I was like, I have
kids. I can't do the things that you guys do.
>> But joining is still something.
>> Yeah.
>> So you joined anthro club.
>> And Japanese.
>> And Japanese.
>> I didn't really associate with Lao Student Association until I graduated.
>> Okay, what were the--and this is K to 12, what were the teacher expectations of you growing up in high school? Was
it neutral, low or high?
>> I had one professor that was very high expectations. And I love her. I actually e-mailed her a few months ago. I was
like--she was my English, my AP English teacher.
>> Oh, wow, okay.
>> And she was like you're amazing, you can do it, and, you know, just coming from where I come from, like we don't
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
really get encouraged by anybody, right? And because Lao cultures, like I put you down so you can be higher. I think
it's my Asian culture, just like, I'm going to put you down. So like she just had very high expectations of me and pushed
me to do better.
>> Alaskan one.
>> Alaska, yeah.
>> Wow, okay. That's really rare. Okay, excellent. So moving away from you to your ethics, the other Laotians in
Alaska, what was the teacher expectations of your ethnic group?
>> So the only white people that we saw like would be the teachers. Our principal was Japanese and Alaska native. He
was born in the internment camps.
>> Oh my gosh.
>> And so like he's still the principal to this day. And our middle school principal was this white lady, but she was so in
tune with like the southeast Asians and the Polynesians and stuff, and we all did cultural things in middle school. And
then when we got to high school, it was like everyone is white, like the teachers are all white, you know? And so I think
they had very low expectations, because for like the southeast Asian boys were going to jail, like juvie, they were in
juvie a lot.
>> For what reason?
>> Different types of crimes. My brother went in on gun charges.
>> Okay, low expectations of southeast Asians. And you say your principal was Japanese and what?
>> Alaskan native.
>> Alaskan native.
>> That was my elementary school.
>> And what was your elementary school called?
>> William Tyson.
>> William Tyson. Is it T-Y?
>> S-O-N, yeah.
>> Okay, and what was your high school called?
>> East High School, East Anchorage High School.
>> East Anchorage High School.
>> The oldest high school in Anchorage.
>> Can you talk about the barriers that you saw? Actually, I'm not going to jump to that, because that's the last part of
barriers. I'll skip that part. I'll go back to that. I'm going to go back to--I'll ask you about barriers. Thinking about the
notable media depictions of your ethnic group, Laotians, what were any--do you remember any media depictions of
your ethnic group?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Growing up?
>> Yes.
>> No. Only on [inaudible] and I was like I am Laotian. No, I didn't see Lao people anywhere.
[ Inaudible ]
Yeah, in King of the Hill. I watch a lot of ethnic media, though. So like I grew up watching Thai movies and like Thai
dramas. So like they're kind of racist against Lao people. But half of their population is Lao. There's more Lao people
moving in Thailand than in the country of Laos.
>> Really?
>> Yes.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Because they took over our land. So they would kind of make--like most of their stars are mixed Lao, but they would
never claim to be Lao. They call themselves Esan because they've been Thai for like a hundred years, right? And so but
in like American media, like only King of the Hill.
>> Did you think that was a positive portrayal or negative or neutral portrayal?
>> It was neutral. I guess kind of negative. Like they were like so are you Chinese or Japanese, right? And he's like, I'm
Laotian, I'm from the country of Laos. And he's like so are you Chinese or Japanese? Like no one knows who we are,
you know?
>> That is actually true.
>> I still need to explain where Laos is. I'm like, it's next to Thailand.
>> So do you know the origin of that? Like how did they come up with that?
>> Mike Judd, right, he writes [inaudible]. What was the origin of that?
>> Because there's a lot of Lao people in Texas.
>> Oh, he was from Texas?
>> It's like the second largest population in the United States. It's California, and then Texas. There's a lot of Lao people
there. My mom actually has cousins there.
>> And that's probably where Mike Judd got it?
>> I'm guessing so. Somebody knows about Lao people there.
>> I always wondered, like wow, like Simpsons. But, hmm, okay.
>> Yeah.
>> All right, excellent. Last question before the barriers, and we're one-third done. Do you feel that you significantly
had academic preparation for college? Were you significantly prepared for college?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Yes and no. I mean, academic-wise, I was, because I grew up in Alaska. We had a great education system. We're
actually one of the--I didn't know they were the like leaders in education, like social/emotional learning.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Until--because, you know, I do like a lot of efficacy [inaudible] and a lot of administrators, they go to Alaska every
year.
>> Oh, wow. I didn't know.
>> Yeah, because they've been doing--I went to Oakland too to look at the school districts in Oakland. And like Alaska
is the lead for social and emotional learning.
>> What is a social/emotional learning?
>> So like looking at the student at a wholistic, like not just a student, right? They look at like--they provide them with
counselors, they look at their whole situation instead of just kick them out of school. And like Alaska--I thought that
was normal, like growing up in Alaska, I'm like people are there for you, like at the schools. And like we had our
principal would hire Lao and Cambodian and Hmong people so that they can work with parents, right? Here in Fresno,
it's called like home school liaisons. But they're not very effective here in Fresno.
>> So they actually hire Hmongs to actually go into the community to talk to the parents?
>> Yeah.
>> For what reason?
>> Because they wanted our parents to understand what was going on. They would like invite our parents to potlucks.
And we would have like culture potlucks and like get to wear our clothes to school and like, you know, just teaching
everybody about our culture. And that's how I grew up.
>> Wow. And in Fresno, they're called teacher liaisons?
>> Home school liaisons.
>> And do you have the home school? Do they do that?
>> No, they work in the school. So like, for example, Ewing has a very large southeast Asian population. So they have a
Hmong home school liaison, and then they have a [inaudible] position for Lao because they want to connect with Lao
parents. But that position has been open all year. And so they don't have anybody for Lao, but the Malay can speak Lao
because her husband is Lao.
>> Okay.
>> But she's like I can't handle like Lao parents and Hmong parents, because there was like over a hundred Hmong
students there.
>> Wow. Okay.
>> And they have the largest like concentration of Lao, Cambodian and Hmong in Fresno for elementary school.
>> Where is it?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Ewing. It's on [inaudible] and Chestnut.
>> E-W-I-N-G?
>> Yes.
>> Ewing? And that's elementary?
>> Mhmm. And so yeah, so Alaska, it just was a lot better than here. So I did feel prepared to go to college. I actually
took a break because I was in a car accident my senior year in high school. And so I took a break. I didn't go straight to
college.
>> All right. Great. Okay, so the second-third is I'm asking about barriers. But with the emphasis of barriers overall. Not
just you personally, but barriers for southeast Asians in general. And, of course, looking at Laotian in particular, but also
in particular looking at Laotian males. So in particular, the male Laotian, okay? All right, so were there any barriers to
your--and I'm going to go to your barriers, but then I'm going to go to your [inaudible] so when I say your, first it's
yours, then I'm going to go co-ethnic, and then emphasize male. Or both, both genders, okay? Do you feel that you had
any barriers to your higher education success?
>> Yes, a lot.
>> Okay.
>> People didn't want me to go to college because I was a mom. So like my in-laws were like don't go to college. Just
work. And I had two kids during college. And I just was relentless. I was like I'm going to college. And my husband
didn't go to college. So they didn't want me to be more educated than my husband.
>> Oh, okay.
>> And so I struggled like doing multiple subjects. I was like, I'm so tired of this. I went to school for eight years
straight.
>> Was that full-time or part-time?
>> I was a full-time student.
>> Okay, and did you switch majors?
>> I did. Three times.
>> Okay, let's go through that.
>> I was originally a--so I transferred from city college. I was a psychology major. And then I was like, I don't want to
do this anymore. And then I wanted to be a science teacher. And I was like, I hate science. So I wasted a lot of time.
And then I finally found anthro. And then I majored in anthro.
>> How did you find anthro?
>> I was looking at something in like language and culture, and I was like, I don't want to do history because they have
too many prereqs. But then I was like, oh, anthro sounds better, you know?
>> Okay, cool. Who was your first anthro teacher?
>> Delcor [phonetic] Hank [phonetic]. Hank was, I was like, hears interesting.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Interesting. Okay, all right, so those are your barriers that you talked about. Do you see any barriers to Laotian
Americans?
>> To go to college?
>> Yes, and graduate.
>> And graduate.
>> Not just to go, but to graduate. We talked about having kids. It took you a long time. You switched majors. Were
there any financial barriers?
>> Yes, I'm in $78,000 in student loans.
>> Which is like pretty substantial.
>> Yeah, financially, yeah, I didn't work, so I was a full-time college student. And I have two small kids. My son was
autistic. So like being a mom and then being like a Laotian daughter as well, like I took care of my parents. And like I
give everyone money. I'm basically their ATM machine. Like I get to send my brothers money in prison, you know?
And like yes, financially, it was difficult. Like I wouldn't even--I didn't want to buy books because I was like but I have
boxes.
>> Oh, wow, okay.
>> And health wise, oh, I forgot my health. Yeah, I had two kids during college. So giving birth and having to go back
to school. I was sick a lot too.
>> Okay, what about Laotian Americans in general?
>> In general? I think, I think the barriers for Laotian Americans in general would be like cultural. Because a lot of
people I know, they don't go to college because they're like, oh, I don't have any friends to go to college. Like I'm not
going to go because I don't have any friends. And I'm like, well, you don't need friends. You can make friends, right?
But they kind of like stick to their circle. And then like once you come to college, you're like, I don't see other Lao
people.
>> Oh, okay.
>> And it's like out of the norm, right, to go to college. Like I know a lot of people in my husband's friend's group, like
they went to college, but they dropped out.
>> Tell me more. Tell me more. Were they males or females?
>> It was females. And like because they had kids. Their husband or boyfriend didn't want them to go to college. Like I
know my friend, she took like a 10-year break, and she was like, I'm going to go back to college. I was like, you better.
Like don't let your man tell you what to do. That is correct. Like a lot of them, I feel like, you know, once they get
married and stuff, like the male or the female, they're kind of just like I don't want to go to college.
>> What is this marrying? How old were they marrying?
>> Some of my friends have been with their boyfriends or husbands for--since they were in middle school.
>> So they got married in middle school?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> They've been together since middle school. And they're like in their 30s now.
>> What is middle school?
>> 14.
>> So they have the dated the same person since they were 14 years old?
>> Yes, and I was like, this is Fresno for you. And they're all my husband's friends, and their wives, right? And they
don't want to do anything.
>> Is that the norm?
>> None of them have a college degree. Out of my husband's friend's group, I was the only like wife that went to
college. And they're just like, we just want to work.
>> Isn't it cultural norm to stay with the person you dated since 14 years old? I mean, that's unheard of.
>> I was going to marry my first love in high school.
>> Oh, really?
>> That didn't happen.
>> So these people literally stayed with the person they dated when they were 14 years old, and they're 30 now?
>> They're 30 something now.
>> That sounds very atypical, like not--like is that typical here?
>> That's typical in the Lao community, yeah.
>> Are you even allowed to date at age 14?
>> You don't date. You marry.
>> You marry at age 14?
>> Like when you date someone, they consider you married.
>> At 14?
>> Yeah, I'm like, you're so dumb.
>> Oh, okay. Is that something they did in Laos or something?
>> I guess. I don't know. I didn't date. I didn't date in high school. Like I had a long distance boyfriend because I was
not--my brother's would kill people. So I didn't date. And so for me, I never had a guy tell me what to do, you know? I
did get married, but I didn't let my husband tell me what to do. I was like I'm going to college. I don't care if you're not
going to college. He actually graduated from continuation school. So for him, he was actually an athlete. And so he got
into like drugs and his friends, and they weren't in a gang, but they were like thugs, right? And so none of his friends
went to college. He didn't go to college. He never even thought about going to city college.
>> Wow, that's interesting.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> And a lot of the Lao guys that he knows, they actually went to city college like for financial aid, and they would drop
out.
>> Okay, what do you go for financial aid? What's the point of that? And why do you go to financial aid? Just to get
money? But don't you have to pay it back?
>> Not at city college, use grants. So like a lot of them would do that. And I'm like, that is a waste of time. But a lot of
his younger friends, like the ones that are like--he's 32. And so I'm 28. Like his friends like my age, they like went to
college for a little bit. But none of them I know have a degree. None of them have a degree, the Lao guys. They all work
in restaurants or like they grow marijuana.
>> It's legal.
>> Yeah, but it's like Lao people, that's like their go-to, because they're farmers, right?
>> It is legal in California to grow marijuana. Is it financially viable? Is it a big money-maker?
>> It is the
>> Okay. I mean, do they see it as a bigger stepping stone than getting a college degree?
>> Yes, they would prefer the fast money, you know? And they grow--it's legal, but they grow illegally, right? And so
they would rather do that than actually go to college because they're like, I'm making more money doing this.
>> Is there enough to support an entire family?
>> Yes, they're making hundreds of thousands of dollars.
>> If they're making hundreds of thousands, would they buy a big house or something?
>> Some of them actually start businesses or some of them just blow it in Vegas or somewhere. Yeah.
>> And is it a common occupation?
>> In the Lao community? Yeah. They had a Fresno Bee article about Lao people being the top marijuana growers.
>> Well, it's legal and viable.
>> Yeah.
>> Do they actually use it as well? Or do they just sell it?
>> Some of them smoke it, I believe.
>> Do they smoke it in Asia? Do they smoke marijuana? They do?
>> They do.
>> I thought it was opium.
>> My mom said they--well, they didn't--like she didn't smoke it, but they put it like in their food and stuff.
>> Okay, cool. Okay, they put it in the feed for what reason? Just as flavoring?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Like to help them sleep, I guess.
>> Okay.
>> But yeah, they have a marijuana trade in southeast Asia. It's out of Thailand.
>> Interesting. Okay. When you were--I think you already answered this. But when you were in college, did you work
outside the school or inside the school? And how many hours did you work? And do you think this impeded your
graduation? But you said you didn't work.
>> I didn't work until senior year, like my senior year in college. I was a promotional model for Jack Daniels.
>> What?
>> Yeah, it was a part-time thing that I did.
>> What does that mean?
>> So I just would be their promo girl. Like I would go to restaurants.
>> Is Jack Daniels an alcohol?
>> Yeah.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Whiskey.
>> What?
>> Well, their [inaudible] was like their promotion model. I would go and give out samples of Jack Daniels. And like it
was just a modeling gig, basically.
>> Oh my gosh, okay. That's a first in my interviews. Usually it's I worked at a restaurant.
>> I didn't do restaurants. I was like, my husband's a chef, so I was like, no, I'm not doing any more shows. And I just
did that part-time.
>> And you handed out--what did you hand out?
>> Alcohol.
>> Was it like a little bottle?
>> Like we would give out samples in restaurants. Like we would go to 500 club, and then we would give out free Jack
Daniel T-shirts. And we also did like other companies like Blue Moon, I would go hand out Blue Moon mugs at Costco
and stuff like that.
>> Oh, okay, okay, like little [inaudible] okay. Interesting.
[ Inaudible ]
>> I'm weird. But I worked during my master's. I started working at firm, so working in the community. Actually, for
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
my master's, my work actually helped me like be able to write about the community and do things. So it didn't impede
my graduation. I graduated in time. I graduated in two years.
>> Which is excellent with two kids.
>> Yes.
>> When you were, I guess contrast or undergraduate, were you give any work fellowships or financial aid? And if you
weren't, do you think that if you were to be given financial aid as your master's and BA, do you think that would help
you graduate?
>> I did get financial aid. I got grants, and then I got the university grant. And then I took out loans so I wasn't working.
>> Okay, so you got financial aid. And you got grants.
>> Grants and loans.
>> And you had the loans? And then you said you had the university?
>> The university grant.
>> What is the university grant?
>> It's like, it matches the Pell grant. It's like $2,500 a semester.
>> Matches the Pell grant.
>> And so like tuition is like $3,000 something. So one of the grants would cover the tuition. And I had to take out
loans because I didn't really work.
>> So that's actually quite--that's pretty good, actually. And actually at the very end, I'm going to ask you, not now, but
at the very end, I'm going to ask you, what do you want? And so you could say at that time like financially what you
would want, okay? Do you think that these fellowships or financial aid, do you think it helps you graduate?
>> Yes. I was only able to come to school because of my grants and loans.
>> Oh, wow.
>> I would not have been able to afford tuition since my husband was the only one working full-time.
>> Excellent. Who watched your kids when you were doing this? Do you use like the university childcare center?
>> No.
>> Okay. We have one, though, right?
>> We do, but there's like a wait list. And my son's autistic, so no one watches my son. I actually would go like online
or I'll do like night classes like when my husband is off. But when I did need someone to, my parents finally moved out
to California to help me out. But they don't like watching him either. Because my son is autistic, no one wants to watch
him. And they don't really understand autism, so sometimes I brought my kids to school with me.
>> How was that received?
>> Not well. No one wants kids in the classrooms here. And when I was breastfeeding, they didn't have the rooms until
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
like after I stopped breastfeeding.
>> Yeah, there are rooms here.
>> Yeah. It's not very child friendly here.
>> What would make it more child friendly for you?
>> I think it would be easier if--like we do have a childcare center, but it's like impacted. So like it is really hard to get
in.
>> So getting more access to childcare center?
>> And like my son went to the autism center when I was in my master's.
>> Okay, can you speak about the autism center?
>> So it's like the early childhood, like early intervention. So my son--I didn't go through the university. Actually, I had
to go through a CVRC.
>> What's that?
>> Central Value Regional Center. It helped me out a lot. My son was here for 20 hours a week.
>> Wow. Okay, and that was when you were an undergrad or grad or both?
>> My grad.
>> Grad, okay. I ought to look into that system. Okay, you talked about already your educational barriers. So we're
going to skip those, okay? You talked about that you were in charge of your children, so we skip those questions. Do
you feel that there are any macro aggressions or micro aggressions while you were in undergrad or grad? And if there
was, did it affect you?
>> Micro aggressions, can you explain that term?
>> Well, macro aggressions would be something like you got beat up and there was like almost [inaudible] or
something, like full on racism, right? Micro aggressions would be something like, oh, I didn't know black people are
good in English. Because I thought you were only good at, you know, sports or something. So it's not full out racism.
It's like little things. So do you think that you experienced any of these things?
>> Not macro. Not macro, like, micro. Yes, and some professors are like wow, your English is good. I'm like, I was
born here. And then a lot of them were like, oh, I didn't--like people would judge me by the way I looked. Like I'm an
Asian female. Like they were like, oh, I didn't think you were smart. I'm like, what?
>> Really?
>> Yes.
>> It goes against the stereotype.
>> Right. I'm like mmm. And then, I don't know, I felt like kind of left out because I had kids. And a lot of people on
campus didn't. The ones in my class didn't. So yeah.
>> Okay. So more the kids.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Yeah, being a mom.
>> Okay, did you feel that--and maybe there was no effect. But did you think there was any kind of minority clash or
gender or race class gender politics, any supremacy? And you actually said that there was already assumption
inferiority. Do you think that you experienced that at all? And you actually kind of already answered that.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah, I think it did have some effect on me, because I didn't really want to come to campus. I actually liked city
college better than I liked Fresno State.
>> Really? Tell me why.
>> I just, I felt more personal. In city college, like I felt like the professors cared more. And in coming to Fresno State, I
was like, they don't care. Everyone is miserable here. And yeah, and also being young with two kids felt like something
that female professors are not nice to me.
>> Tell me more.
>> I just, I don't know what her thing was. Most of them aren't married, don't have kids. And they're just like, oh, I'm
just six years old. And those kids had never had kids. And I'm like, that sucks.
>> That is the commonality. It's actually more so in [inaudible] as you'll see.
>> It's a little weird.
>> It's the norm.
>> Yeah, they look like you're the alien. Most female professors don't have kids. I think over 50%.
>> And they're so depressed.
>> And non-married too.
>> Yeah, I'm like mmm.
[ Inaudible ]
>> Okay, great. Thank you. Sorry about that.
>> That's okay.
>> All right, so now we went over barriers, which is the last part of success. So this is where I pretty much pump you
for information on what do you want, what do you want. So down the line, what do you want to make you graduate in
four years or your ethnic, co-ethnic group to graduate in general, but graduate in four years or six years, it doesn't matter
the years, but just like lists down the line what do you want. But let me just ask you these three questions, and then we're
going to list down the line what you want. So eventually I would like to go to President Castro and have him list of like
30 things, these are the barriers, it doesn't matter, I mean, yeah, barriers, that's good that you should know. But I have a
list with no names attached. They want workshop. They want smaller classes. They want a peer management. So it will
be a list down the line. So if you can add anything to this list, because I will be making appointment with President
Castro to say this is what they want, okay? Obviously you said financial aid made a big difference. So, you know, if you
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
say free ride whole way through, I mean, I would include that. But first I'm going to ask you these three questions. And
then I'm going to go into what do you want down the line, okay? Which is kind of the meat of the whole interview,
okay? All right, so let's talk about you, your personality. Why were you able to cross that BA line when so many other
southeast Asians [inaudible] are not? What is it about your personality that enabled you personally to graduate? What is
it about you? Not your family. You.
>> Me? I always loved to read. I was encouraged to read when I was younger. And so that made me like like to study.
And I was like, I always--I didn't really know what college was until something was offered in my elementary school. It
was like a scholarship. And if you got Bs, like a 3.0 throughout high school, you can get a $25,000 scholarship to the
UAA, University of Anchorage Alaska.
>> Oh, wow.
>> And I didn't stay right in Alaska. But after that, I was like, I have to go to college. And I wanted to be a psychologist.
So I was like, I need to go to college to get a career. Like I'm not going to work at Red Robin. Like I worked--that was
one of my first jobs. And then I was like, I'm not going to work at a Korean clothing store for the rest of my life. And I
was like, I'm just not going to be working at a restaurant or a store period. So I was like, I need to go to college. And it
was just I guess setting goals for myself, especially, I didn't want to live the way I grew up, you know? So I wanted a
better life for myself. And I'm just very stubborn.
>> Okay, so very stubborn. Okay, very nice. Okay, so let's move on to your family. What did your family do, if
anything, to help you succeed in your four-year graduation, or in your achievement educationally? What did your
parents do?
>> My parents moved here from Alaska to help me with my kids. They don't watch them all the time, but they would
watch them so that I can, like right now, he's picking up my son right now so I can work. So they help me with
childcare. They also like, they supported me even though they didn't understand what college was. I'm just like they just
give me whatever I ask for.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> And my husband, he didn't understand college either. But he was like, just do whatever you want. Just go for it. And
so just having my family just believe in me, because I was the first to go to college and the first to graduate, they didn't-I have an AA, BA and MA, and they didn't go to my graduation.
>> I've noticed that's an Asian thing.
>> They're like, why are we going to go? There's so much people.
>> You're not the first person who's said that.
>> They don't understand like how important it is. Like for my bachelor's, I didn't know like convocation was like when
you walk, right? I was like, I'm just going to go. And then I called my family. I'm like, no one's here for me. And they
showed up.
[ Inaudible ]
>> Okay, that's good, that's good.
>> For my master's, no one was there. Only my friends.
>> Is it they just don't have that in Asia? Like they don't have-file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> My sister was graduating the same time when I was getting my master's. So my parents--so my sister got her
associate's, and she's a 4.0, and she got a medal at city college. So they're like, we're just going to go over there. And I
was like, and she's a single mom too, so they're like, oh, we're going to go to her. And they threw me a party. But I just
feel like they weren't very proud of me. They're like, good job. And I told them I want to be a doctor, and they're like,
why are you going to go back to school for? My mom's like, I'm tired, I don't want to help you watch your kids. I was
like, well, you're going to, because I'm going to become a doctor.
>> Okay, awesome, okay. Okay, so this is--okay, so now, let's see, I've already asked you the bridges. I've already said
cultural, educational, financial, structural, I've already asked you. Were there any community, were there any
community institutional enablers that helped you like in the community? You talked about school. You talked about
financial. You talked about your family. Your talked about--anything in the community like dance teams or hip hop
things, anything in the community that helped you at all?
>> No.
>> Okay.
>> Quick short, because I was not from Fresno, like I didn't really have a support like here, you know? That's what I felt
like. I was like, I'm just doing my own.
>> Was college at all cultivated in your household?
>> No.
>> Okay, what makes Laotians pursue leadership? So you're a leader. What makes you pursue leadership roles in higher
education? Like why are you doing this?
>> Because no one else is.
>> Okay.
>> And I want to be a good mom.
>> Okay.
>> And, you know, I want to really encourage like other Lao women to take leadership roles. Because no one does it.
No one wants to do anything. No one wants to speak up. And it's the hardest thing about our community.
>> Did you have a Lao educational day they have on campus?
>> I wasn't invited.
>> Oh, okay. I mean, you could have just shown up. No invitation needed.
>> Somebody didn't want me there, so that was okay.
>> Okay, sorry. I e-mailed someone. I thought you were coming, but I e-mailed a high school teacher to go. She wasn't
invited either.
>> What's her name?
>> Chai.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Oh, Chai. Yeah, she didn't know about it either. And I'm like what? By the way, she's going to probably interview
for the same exact--well, mine is all southeast Asians. She's only doing Lao.
>> She interviewed me before.
>> Oh, really? Oh, okay.
>> I'm surprised she didn't know about the conference. The lady is her cousin, so.
>> Well.
>> Yeah, she didn't know about it. And I said, it's a little random, but she's like, I didn't know about it. But she said they
were just going to have a good--like they didn't have that function of inviting--I mean, there was no communication.
That's what she said.
>> My family, friend, and is also a high school teacher, she's a physics teacher at Duncan. She's Lao. She's been an
educator for 18 years. And they told her school two days before the conference. And she was like, I didn't even know
about this. Like yeah.
>> That's what they said. So the communication was not--it just didn't.
>> They didn't ask us to help them.
>> It's going to be a yearly thing. So next year, you take a leadership role, and just insert yourself, because the
communication. Obviously, they need a communication director to get the word out.
>> She is actually on our board for firm.
>> Okay, well, get out there. All right, okay, so we're going to skip the community, because you said--okay, so now,
this is down the line. This is the last question. What do you need? Okay, so here, okay, so this is my down the line.
What do you want to see the college help you graduate in four years? So I am focusing also on four years. And again,
smaller classes, more co-ethnic professors, more co-ethnic classmates, more ethnic clubs. Do you need success
workshops? What can we do at Fresno State? Other things like micro aggression, macro aggression, you know, I think
of some other--but here, like workshops, what workshop do you want? What do you want? You want a breastfeeding
station? What do you need? Do you need a club? By the way, at UC Riverside, there is a mother's club actually on
campus. And they have a yearly speaker series, actually, where all the moms come, and they have a talk, and they talk
about strategies. And there's a mom actual room. And there's a mom thing. So like what do you need down the line?
Okay, so let's go down the line. Smaller classes, would that be more helpful, or no difference?
>> It didn't make a difference to me.
>> No difference, okay. Co-ethnic professors?
>> Yes, I would have preferred to see a lot more southeast Asians at Fresno State. I didn't have one.
>> As professors or staff or both?
>> Both.
>> Okay, so more staff. What about gender? More same-gender professors, or no difference?
>> No difference.
>> Same gender, no difference. Okay, how about co-ethnic classmates? Would it have been a big difference? And I'm
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
speaking specifically Laotian classmates. Do you want a cohort system? Do you want a mentorship system? Do you
want an older Laotian to always--because we do have a Lao club, right? So do you need a mentor older to mentor you
directly, which they do have at UC San Diego.
>> I think it would have been helpful for me. I didn't see any other Lao people in my classes.
>> Oh, wow.
>> And I've been coming to Fresno State since 2011. So 2011 to 2016.
>> Not even one?
>> Not in my class. I know Lao people exist because some of them are my friends, right? And so but none of them were
in my class. We're not in the same major.
>> Oh, wow. What major are they in?
>> They were in business.
>> Okay, well, actually, I think that it is a very high Asian major, business and nursing. That's primarily if you look at
the rate of ethnic groups, they tend to go that way. Okay, so you would want more same ethnic group Laotians in your
classes.
>> Yeah, that would have been an interesting thing.
>> And again, you talked about it a little bit. You couldn't come to class because of your children. But what about ethnic
clubs, would that make a difference? More ethnic clubs.
>> More ethnic clubs?
>> Or no difference?
>> I didn't join. No, it wouldn't have made a difference for me. It would be cool if it had had a mom's club, but like not.
>> Mom's club. That's actually something I could ask for. Mom's club. That is something doable that we could do.
>> Yeah, it was really--I don't feel like the campus was--it's more centered toward, you know, younger people, like not
people with families. But like UC is kind of like a comradery of families, right? Here, it was just like I brought my son
here once or twice. I was like, so you're going to know what college is.
>> All the UCs have family centers. Because they have grad students who have families.
>> Right.
>> All right, so these are the last questions. So now down the line. What workshops do you want to see here that you
think would be helpful to you?
>> I would have liked to have seen like women, like leaders, like women leaders.
>> Women leader workshop.
>> Yeah.
>> Women leader workshop. Women of color leader, women southeast Asian leader. Be specific.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> It would be women of color, like for me, that would have been very helpful.
>> Leadership. Series one off. Do you want a whole year or do you want like twice, three times a year, what would you
want?
>> Like series, like throughout the year.
>> A series of what? What do you want to see in the series?
>> What do you mean?
>> Like in each workshop, do you want one on public speaking, do you want one on managing your time? What would
you want on this leader of color series? Would you want some woman talking about her life history? Like you be a
guest speaker, like what would you want in the series?
>> I guess a little bit of everything. Because like there are success stories or like, you know, skills that we can, that like,
I guess, life skills, communication skills, networking. I think we don't have enough networking opportunities.
>> Okay, anything else?
>> Not that I can think of it.
>> So a little bit of everything. Success stories, life skills, communication skills, networking. Okay, and financial aid,
what would be helpful?
>> I don't know. Financial aid.
>> Did you want completely free?
>> Yes, I would have liked completely free. I have $78,000 in student loans.
>> I will put that down. Free college.
>> They gave me a statement, and they were like, $900 a month. I'm like, I cannot afford $900 a month to pay back my
loans.
>> That is crazy. All right, so that's it. What do you need? What at Fresno State do you want to see more of? What do
you need at Fresno State for you to graduate? And then my last question is, anything else you want to add to this?
>> Okay, what do I want to see at Fresno State to graduate? I feel like I answered it, but I don't know.
>> Workshops and the groups, mother's group, financial aid. But anything else that you want to mention?
>> I would like to see more classes and southeast Asians. Because I think we have a certificate, right? But I didn't see
anything about southeast Asians. I think I took one class, actually. Like cultures of southeast Asia or something.
>> Oh, who taught that one?
>> What's his name?
>> Delta?
>> No.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Ing?
>> No, the Indian man. Native-American man. I guess he did a dissertation in China or something.
>> Oh, okay. So more classes on southeast Asians.
>> Yeah.
>> Southeast Asian American or southeast Asia? Or both?
>> Both. Language as well. Like I know they offer Hmong now. But like Lao and Khmer, it would have been
interesting because we have such a big southeast Asian population in Fresno, but like we don't have anything taught at
our university. Like in Illinois, they have like a language institute that teaches all the southeast Asian languages.
>> Really?
>> Is it Illinois or Wisconsin? It might be Madison, Wisconsin or Illinois. I forget.
>> They have a big population.
>> Yeah, it's like a language institute, though, that teaches southeast Asian languages.
>> Okay. Awesome. And that is it. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
>> No.
>> Okay, well, thank you so much for spending your time. And I will compile a list. And then, of course, if I ever write
anything, I will send you a copy. I will be e-mailing this back to you tonight. They are just notes. So at the time, feel
free to look through. And if you want to correct, delete, or anything you'd like, feel free. But if you do approve of it,
optionally, you can please e-mail back I approve. And that is it. When that turns off, do you have to go back to work?
>> Not really. I should, though.
>> It's up to you. Okay.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
[ Inaudible ]
All right, hello. Welcome. Thank you so much for consenting to be interviewed. Can you please say your name, the date
and spell your name as well as give me verbal permission to record you at this time?
>> My name is Simara Vongthongdy, S-I-M-A-R-A, V-O-N-G-T-H-O-N-G-D-Y. And today is June 2nd. I do give you
permission to record me.
[ Inaudible ]
>> All right, so one second. I am going to check the date. So you are number five of the interviews, number five. And
can you spell slowly your name again?
>> S-I-M-A-R-A.
>> S-I-A.
>> M-A-R-A.
>> M-A.
>> R-A. Vongthongdy. V-O-N-G.
>> V-O-N-G.
>> T-H-O-N-G.
>> T-H-O-N-G.
>> D-Y.
>> D-Y.
>> Yes.
>> D-Y. So is it S-I-M-A-R-A space V-O-N-G-T-H-O-N-G-D-Y?
>> Yeah.
>> All right. And I will be e-mailing you exactly this back. And you are number five. Please, at any time, change it,
delete it, whatever you want. And this is all voluntary. You can delete the whole interview if you'd like. But the goal is
actually to improve graduation rates at Fresno State, to be a successful graduate like yourself. All right, okay, okay,
what is the gender that you identify as?
>> Female.
>> Female. What is your birth year?
>> 1989.
>> What is your ethnic group?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Laotian.
>> Okay, what was your undergraduate and graduate major?
>> A bachelor's in anthropology, with an emphasis in cultural anthropology, and a master's in multilingual, multicultural
education.
>> Master's in multilingual. And I was going to tell you later, I think I'll tell you during lunch, but we do have a--they
have a new ID that's online at channel islands that's hooked up now with Fresno, if you didn't know.
>> Oh, yeah. Gina is going to be part of->> Gina, yeah. And also the guy Ray at the library too.
[ Inaudible ]
What generation are you? First, 1.5 or second?
>> Second.
>> Okay. What is your mother and father's highest degree, educational?
>> My dad, he went to like a technical college [inaudible] and my mom graduated from high school.
>> Tech college.
[ Inaudible ]
And your mom graduated from high school.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay, graduated high school. All right, what was your family composition then and what is your family composition
now?
>> As in siblings?
>> Yes, like what did you grow up like? What did you grow up with? And then what is it now, 2017?
>> Okay, I had three brothers and one sister.
>> Three brothers and one sister, okay.
>> So there was five of us. Now, I have two children.
>> Okay.
>> And a husband.
>> Okay.
>> And my family lives with me still, so we have like a household of eight.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
[ Inaudible ]
>> And is that your grandparents or parents?
>> My parents.
>> Parents, okay. So household of eight. All right, what was your undergraduate major?
>> Undergraduate major?
>> I'm sorry, what was your undergrad GPA?
>> GPA?
>> Sorry.
>> It was like a 2.9.
>> Okay, what is your ultimate degree? You have a BA and master's, but is your ultimate degree aspiration?
>> I've had to go back to school next year for my Ph.D.
>> In what?
>> I'm thinking PsyD, actually, I want to do clinical psychology.
>> Oh, wow, okay. And so a PsyD in clinical. Interesting. Very important. Okay, psychology. Very cool. Okay, all
right. Would you say growing up you had a working class, middle, affluent family socioeconomics?
>> Low income.
>> Okay, what type of high school did you go to, a private or a public?
>> Public.
>> Okay, what was the racial demographics of your high school?
>> There wasn't a lot of white people. So it was mostly people of color. So Polynesian, Southeast Asians.
>> Where was this located actually?
>> Anchorage, Alaska.
>> Oh my gosh. Okay, I should write that down.
>> Anch East High School. It was kind of a bridge between like low income kids, and then like affluent kids, because it
was a high school in the middle. So it was mostly--you were everything but white in the school.
>> Okay, so the person of color. And, I'm sorry, can you say again, what was the ethnic groups again?
[ Inaudible ]
>> Hawaii. Also, southeast Asia. So Lao, Cambodians, Vietnamese [inaudible] as well.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Oh, wow.
>> And Puerto Ricans, Dominicans.
>> And how did they all get to Alaska?
>> Because like back in--well, they do it now. But like they pay to live there. So people are like, let's go to Alaska.
Also, there's a lot of jobs.
>> And then what were the jobs?
>> They either work in the [inaudible] so fishing or oil.
>> What would they fish for?
>> All types of seafood.
>> So these people of color would work in the [inaudible] and oil fields, and that's what drew them here.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay, excellent. Okay, and so the next line of questions, if you don't know, that's fine, because most people don't
know. I'm asking like [inaudible] questions, and so feel free to just say pass if you don't know the answer.
>> Okay.
>> All right, how--and again, most people, in fact, no one advanced. But how many Laos go to college? Why or why
not?
>> How many?
>> How many? What percentage of Laotian in America go to college? Or if you know the numeral number. And if they
do go to college, why? If they don't go to college, why not?
>> I believe it was 12% with a bachelor's degree a few years ago. It was actually 7%, and then it went up. But very few,
very few go past a bachelor's. There's a small percentage. I forget the number. That have a master's degree or higher.
And I have the statistic on my computer. I don't have it on me. But why do they not go to->> Why do they go? And why do they not go to college?
>> I believe they don't go to college because in our culture, they kind of look at more of like the short-term, just kind of
always in survival mode. Like I'd rather make money than quit like my job and then go to school. I mean, I think--and
then the cost of education, as well as like just trying to survive. They want to go to college. Most Lao boys are in gangs.
So they are either in jail or like they just don't want to go to college because they don't see themselves being like in these
careers, right? Especially when you don't see anybody else go to college in your community. And like do they go to
college? Well, I went to college because I wanted a better life for my family. I was the first one to go to college out of
five siblings. And so I wanted to be able to provide for my entire family, which I do now.
>> Oh, wow, okay. So you actually mentioned gangs and alternatives to college. So what are the other alternatives to
college that you see? And I want to go back to gangs. What do they offer that is attractive enough--that is like more
attractive? I want to get into that. What is the attraction for Asian males to go into gangs versus college? You said
survival mode. You said you don't see anyone else that goes to college. But what is the attraction for Asian males?
>> My brothers, I have two brothers in prison. One is surviving an 80-year sentence, and one is serving an 18-year
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
sentence for drugs. And well, he told me that he just was tired of being poor, and being in gangs offered him like a way
to make money, right? Because he sold drugs. And so he would make millions of dollars versus, he's like, why do I need
to college if I'm already making money? But he ended up in prison. And so for them, it's like they just don't want to be
bullied of course, too, like especially because, you know, we're refugees. And he just liked that lifestyle, that fast-paced
lifestyle, and it was better than being poor.
>> And then what about the females? Is there kind of gender issue? Did you feed female gang members? And were they
the same polls?
>> Back in the day, yes. Like in the 90s when I was growing--in my neighborhood, I couldn't join a gang. My brothers
would kill me. But it was other girls that like didn't have parents. There were like a lot of girls, they didn't have like their
parents couldn't control them. And I think it has a lot to do with like being refugees.
>> So we have a push that it's poverty and being refugees, like psychological. But the pull you're saying is economic.
>> Yes.
>> Was there any other pull other than economic to join a gang for the male in particular, but also the females? And you
talked about bullying.
>> I think it was the comradery, because we had to band together in our neighborhood.
>> Against?
>> Against other groups. We didn't grow up in a white neighborhood. My elementary school was like 92% non-white.
>> Okay.
>> And so it was like other groups fighting each other.
>> So you fought Puerto Ricans?
>> They live a lot of like Samoan and like southeast Asian rivalry. It was so weird. Then we grew up and we all became
friends. But my brother, my brother gets along with everyone. It's just, you know, they were able to control the
neighborhood.
>> Interesting. Okay, if you look at the numbers of Laotians and compare them to let's Sam, for instance, south Asian,
right? South Asian graduation rate in the nation is the highest in the nation at 70%. So there's a big difference, right?
Why do you think that south Asians have such a high graduation rate at 17%? 70%, sorry. And actually, it's actually
higher for [inaudible] versus Laotians who have lower. What is the difference? Why is there the disparity?
>> Our immigration [inaudible] we came as refugees. Most south Indians, like south Asians, they came from India for
economic purposes, right? And then they also are educated from their country. But most people in our community, Lao
people, are not educated. And like there's very few that were educated in France and stuff if they were in the military.
But it really didn't mean anything when they came to America, and they were like working. Like my uncle became a
janitor. Like if he was--he did, Laos, he worked with the CIA and all this stuff, and he speaks like seven different
languages. But when you come to America, it's like it doesn't mean anything like that you came as a refugee. I think
that's why south Asians are more successful in school than Laotians.
>> And then do you see any similarities between Laotian Americans to other southeast Asians, such as Vietnamese,
Cambodian, Filipino? What are the differences and similarities that you see in the college graduation rates?
>> I was in like Lao and Cambodia. Or statistically, it's Lao, Cambodia and [inaudible] at the bottom, right? And
similar, because you don't see a lot of Lao and Cambodian people go to college.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> So you see them as similar to you.
>> Yes.
>> Okay.
>> I do.
>> What about Filipino, Thai, Malaysian [inaudible].
>> So Filipino and Thai, a lot more of them go to college than Lao people. And I grew up with a lot of Filipinos in
Alaska, right?
>> Oh, really? Okay.
>> Yeah, and so they were like one of the first Asians up there. And so like for them, like their parents also like found
like careers that are stable, right? So they [inaudible] Filipino friends, they had money. Like their parents, they had cell
phones in middle school, braces, you know, like all the expensive things their parents could afford because their parents
worked at Fed Ex, they were RNs, you know, so they had like educational background, as well as stable careers. And so
for us, my mom, they worked--my parents worked in restaurants, or like at the oil, right? With five kids. And so but like
if you look at Filipino families, they don't have a lot of kids. Like Lao and Cambodian people, we have like five plus
kids, right?
>> Feel free to answer them. It's okay.
>> I'm going to make sure my dad is picking up my son. Okay.
>> So they had smaller families?
>> Yeah, they had smaller families, and their parents have careers.
>> And feel free to check if your son is being picked up.
[ Inaudible ]
>> Yeah, my dad is going to pick him up.
>> Priority. Okay, so they had smaller families.
>> Yeah, and for Thai people, they didn't come as refugees either. And so and then like Thailand, right, compared to
Lao, like Thailand, it's more developed mostly.
>> Is there any nuance difference that you see between let's say Laotian, Cambodian, Hmong, is there any--like you said
they're similar, but did you see any similarities?
>> Well, first, like there's like a bigger Hmong population, right? So they have more people in leadership roles, right?
They're in the school district and like government. But you don't see any Lao or Cambodian in leadership positions. And
I see that's the difference because the way that the Hmongs work in clans, right? But like a lot of Cambodians are very
divided. Like we have five different temples, like Buddha temples, because they can't work together. And so I think
that's a big barrier for Lao and Cambodians, like it's just we don't work in clan systems. It's kind of like as they came to
America, I feel like they're not collective anymore like they are in Lao, right? Because they're more like village type
mentality.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> How is the Laotian community? How is it divided in the United States?
>> It's like religion, right? The Christians and Buddhists. And then within the Buddhists, like they have a split between
the temples. So when it's new year, people pick which temple they go to. And back in the days like when I was younger
when I was born here in Fresno, they had Samokorn [phonetic], which is like kind of like a--Samokorn. Let me see. I
think it's like S-A-M-O-K-O-R-N. Or M, yeah.
>> M, okay.
>> But it's like, it was like, so all the leaders, right, all the men.
>> What is Samokorn, what is that?
>> It's a group. So they have a group, and then so when someone dies in the community, right, everyone pays in to help
pay for the funerals. When there's weddings, everyone, everyone puts their money together.
>> Really?
>> And that's how they used to work. But like now that the elders are dying, like us younger generation, we don't do
that.
>> You don't?
>> We don't have a group where we support each other. Because they've kind of been lost because all the people doing
that, they were leaders in Laos.
>> Oh, okay.
>> And so they didn't pass on that kind of leadership style, right? Like they didn't pass it on to our kids. They're like, oh,
just be American. Like they don't want us to do that. But we still kind of keep some of that culture. Like when
weddings, funerals, birthdays, like we always give each other money. And so I see that changing in the community
because people are kind of like for themselves, right? And in like America, there's like insurance now, you know?
People just buy policies instead of having like a community do that. But that's slowly dying off in our community.
>> Do you see that still going on in the Hmong community or the Cambodian community, or is it dying off, do you
think, in their communities as well?
>> I think for the Hmong community, they're kind of better at it because like they have like, you know, they were on a
class system. So like if you're a gang, right, then they have like reunions, and, you know, they get their kids involved
and stuff. But for Lao and Cambodians, they don't really get the younger generation involved in anything. And I work
with the communities, so like we mostly work with elders. And you don't see their kids. Like we don't see their kids
come to anything that they do, or like a lot of them don't speak Lao anymore, they don't hold the customs.
>> Oh my goodness. Okay.
[ Inaudible ]
Okay, so you're kind of predicting that this kind of communal system will die off, you think?
>> I think so. But it's still in like my generation, or my second generation, I'm 28 years old, and the people that are a
little older than me, we all have kids and stuff. We do come together. It has to be like a birthday or like someone dies.
Like right now, my husband's grandma died, so like everyone's there at the house like every day. So we always come
together when it comes to like major life events. But not like on a daily basis. When I was younger, my parents used to
always go to Lost Lake with all the other Lao people, and they would go to rolling park before we moved to Alaska.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
And that was kind of like how they kept community. But now it's not like that. Everyone's just, they just hang out, they
just keep to themselves. Especially like if they've gotten like an education, they don't talk to other Lao people.
>> Oh, interesting. So education, would you say, is a divider, in a way? Or is it the ones who are educated, they're not
coming back to help? Because you are educated, and you're kind of helping.
>> Yeah, for the most part, a lot of them just kind of, they marry white people. You know, they don't keep like Lao
customs. They don't eat Lao food, you know? But for me, it's different, because I grew up in Alaska. I feel like a lot of
people like hearing how they're like that, they're just like, oh, I'm educated now, like I don't want to--I feel like they kind
of look down on other Lao people once they get their education. There's just like, oh, I did it, why can't you attitude, you
know? Because I started a leadership community, and it was like Lao and Cambodian professionals. And it was why
should we help other people? Like why? They're like, what are we getting out of this, right?
>> Interesting.
>> Yeah.
>> How fascinating, this second generation. Because that's an interesting commentary. Is your husband Laotian?
>> Yes.
>> Oh, okay. I didn't know he was.
>> He was born in the refugee camps.
>> Oh, I thought your husband was Filipino. I always thought your husband was Filipino. I was like, oh, okay.
>> No, he's Lao.
>> Okay. Oh, interesting. Okay, interesting. All right, so we're at the end of the first one-third of the questions. Do
Laotian students have strong relations, sorry, strong relationships with administrators and faculties? Why or why not?
>> I don't feel like it because kind of like a cultural thing, right? Like I had a hard time ever asking for help. Like I
never asked for any help. I had two kids going through college. And I'd never ask for help. I would just struggle a lot
until like it got really bad, then I would e-mail for budgets. Like I think it's a cultural thing. Like we don't share our
problems. And we keep it to ourselves because like it's a personal matter. And that's just our culture, though. Yeah, it
was really hard for me. I didn't really get the idea of like networking, right? And like being like having a relationship
with teachers or principals and stuff until like I graduated. I was like, you know what? I need to kind of break out of my
shell. Because like most Lao people, they're just quiet. Like talking too much in our culture is like taboo. Yeah, my
house had to be quiet. Like we would get in trouble if we talked too much.
>> You're kidding. So, oh, I'll have to look that up. Do you think talking a lot in Asian culture is bad?
>> Like in our culture, they looked down on you if you talked too much.
>> Really?
>> Yes.
>> What is so wrong? I mean, why would it be bad?
>> I'm not sure. But I just remember my dad would get so mad when we talked. And like anywhere you go, like Lao,
they're kind of, they're quiet. They're not very loud.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Wow. Interesting. Okay, can you speak about asking questions, particularly in a gender manner? Is it okay to ask
questions in class? Is it okay for Lao males to ask questions in the culture on the family?
>> No, it's not okay to ask questions period. I think that's why it was so hard for me to ask questions, because like,
because we just don't question anything from like my parent. We don't question them. My parents told me to do
something, I would do it. There was like no choice. And it's different now that I have kids. Like I let them talk to me.
And like it kind of--you know, like not being able to ask questions or express yourself kind of gives you low self
esteem. And for males, I have two boys, and so my son, it is hard for him to ask questions too. I'm like, you need to
speak up.
>> Why do you think it's hard for him to ask questions? Is it culture again?
>> I believe so. Because we speak Lao to our kids. And we hold Lao customs. We eat Lao food. And my parents live
with me, so like my kids always share Lao, you know?
>> Oh, so it's like, it's kind of like the culture, it's reaffirming.
>> Yeah.
>> So is your son actually kind of growing up in basically the same culture you grew up in?
>> It's different, yeah. A little different because I'm more Americanized. I was born in the states. But I was born two
years after my parents came from the Philippines. They were in a refugee camp in the Philippines, so for me, I'm more
Americanized, right? And plus, I have a master's degree. Like my parents, they didn't have really, they didn't have high
education. And plus, I'm able to, because I work in non-profit and I work within schools and stuff, so I am able to
understand like the educational process and like I'm involved in my kids' school, I'm on their school councils, like my
parents never did any of that kind of stuff. So for my son, he kind of feels like more connected to his school and his life,
you know? But for me, like it was just so separate. I felt like we kind of raised ourselves, even though we didn't.
>> Well, in the culture, you probably did. I mean, you live with your parents, but in the culture. Okay, all right,
excellent. What was your favorite subject? What was your least favorite subject? And why or why not?
>> My favorite subject was English because, you know, just English being my second language and people used to
make fun of me, so I would like, I'm like I'm going to be the best speller, and I was like in the spelling bee, and I was in
AP English like my whole high school life. And I just, I love to write and I like to read and write, so English was cool.
But I would say history too. But I have a lot. I'm a nerd. I love history.
>> Why history?
>> History because my parents couldn't really explain like their background, right? And so I would read in Laos and
like the war and like I still do because I want to know more. I love the history behind things, especially like when it
comes to Buddhism too, because they don't explain anything to us. So like reading helped me. And then writing about it
was just kind of like therapy. And my least favorite subject would be science.
>> Okay, tell me why.
>> It was too technical for me. Yes, I just hated it. I hated doing experiments. It was not fun to me.
>> Okay, so hated experiments. Okay, what makes a good professor for you to pass a class or graduate? And thinking of
other Laotians as well, what makes a good professor? What makes a bad professor if you fail a class and not graduate?
So can you speak about that? What makes a good professor?
>> A good professor, I think for me, would be someone, a professor that's in tune with their students and knows like the
needs of the demographics of the room, right? I think a bad professor is one that discourages you. I had, like during my
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
master's program, like they didn't encourage me to graduate, one of them. And I was like, someone just died, I'm like,
I've got two kids, and I was like, I don't think I can do it, right? And she's like, you just take another semester. And I was
like, I'm not going to take another semester. That's like I've got to take more loans out, you know? And I talked to the
chair, and she was like, you can do this. And so for her, like to encourage me and made me believe in myself, you know,
because when you're stressed out, I have to deal with my whole family. I've got two brothers in prison. I have an autistic
son. It was like, it was very stressful to have like someone just encourage me. She talked to me for 20 minutes, and I
was like, okay, I can do this. And I did it.
>> Okay, awesome. And it's amazing what you did, by the way, amazing, with two kids. Okay, excellent. Thank you so
much. So have you ever been mentored in undergrad?
>> Sort of. Hank and Moley, they were kind of the closest to it. They talked to me a lot, and, you know, really got me
interested in anthropology, and kind of encouraging me to be more involved on campus. Because I would just come to
school and go home. I had two small kids. I was like, I've got to go, bye.
>> Of course. Of course. So what did they tell you to do?
>> Just I think because I was interested in anthropology, like we would do, like you know when, what's her name, Jane
Goodall came, and, you know, they went to go->> Jane Goodall came here?
>> She went to Bakersfield. She came to Bakersfield to do like a reading. And then the anthro students went, and then
like, just like doing, like I wasn't used to like doing events. I didn't go, but just like one example was like just when
things would happen, like we would always, like we would do stuff together, right? And I wasn't used to that because
like, I was like, I've got kids. Yeah, I never did. Like I didn't do a lot until like I kind of got into anthropology and doing
events and joining anthro club and stuff like that.
>> Oh, joining anthro club. Tell me more.
>> I wasn't really active. I joined, and then the Japanese club I joined too, and I wasn't very active too. I was like, I have
kids. I can't do the things that you guys do.
>> But joining is still something.
>> Yeah.
>> So you joined anthro club.
>> And Japanese.
>> And Japanese.
>> I didn't really associate with Lao Student Association until I graduated.
>> Okay, what were the--and this is K to 12, what were the teacher expectations of you growing up in high school? Was
it neutral, low or high?
>> I had one professor that was very high expectations. And I love her. I actually e-mailed her a few months ago. I was
like--she was my English, my AP English teacher.
>> Oh, wow, okay.
>> And she was like you're amazing, you can do it, and, you know, just coming from where I come from, like we don't
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
really get encouraged by anybody, right? And because Lao cultures, like I put you down so you can be higher. I think
it's my Asian culture, just like, I'm going to put you down. So like she just had very high expectations of me and pushed
me to do better.
>> Alaskan one.
>> Alaska, yeah.
>> Wow, okay. That's really rare. Okay, excellent. So moving away from you to your ethics, the other Laotians in
Alaska, what was the teacher expectations of your ethnic group?
>> So the only white people that we saw like would be the teachers. Our principal was Japanese and Alaska native. He
was born in the internment camps.
>> Oh my gosh.
>> And so like he's still the principal to this day. And our middle school principal was this white lady, but she was so in
tune with like the southeast Asians and the Polynesians and stuff, and we all did cultural things in middle school. And
then when we got to high school, it was like everyone is white, like the teachers are all white, you know? And so I think
they had very low expectations, because for like the southeast Asian boys were going to jail, like juvie, they were in
juvie a lot.
>> For what reason?
>> Different types of crimes. My brother went in on gun charges.
>> Okay, low expectations of southeast Asians. And you say your principal was Japanese and what?
>> Alaskan native.
>> Alaskan native.
>> That was my elementary school.
>> And what was your elementary school called?
>> William Tyson.
>> William Tyson. Is it T-Y?
>> S-O-N, yeah.
>> Okay, and what was your high school called?
>> East High School, East Anchorage High School.
>> East Anchorage High School.
>> The oldest high school in Anchorage.
>> Can you talk about the barriers that you saw? Actually, I'm not going to jump to that, because that's the last part of
barriers. I'll skip that part. I'll go back to that. I'm going to go back to--I'll ask you about barriers. Thinking about the
notable media depictions of your ethnic group, Laotians, what were any--do you remember any media depictions of
your ethnic group?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Growing up?
>> Yes.
>> No. Only on [inaudible] and I was like I am Laotian. No, I didn't see Lao people anywhere.
[ Inaudible ]
Yeah, in King of the Hill. I watch a lot of ethnic media, though. So like I grew up watching Thai movies and like Thai
dramas. So like they're kind of racist against Lao people. But half of their population is Lao. There's more Lao people
moving in Thailand than in the country of Laos.
>> Really?
>> Yes.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Because they took over our land. So they would kind of make--like most of their stars are mixed Lao, but they would
never claim to be Lao. They call themselves Esan because they've been Thai for like a hundred years, right? And so but
in like American media, like only King of the Hill.
>> Did you think that was a positive portrayal or negative or neutral portrayal?
>> It was neutral. I guess kind of negative. Like they were like so are you Chinese or Japanese, right? And he's like, I'm
Laotian, I'm from the country of Laos. And he's like so are you Chinese or Japanese? Like no one knows who we are,
you know?
>> That is actually true.
>> I still need to explain where Laos is. I'm like, it's next to Thailand.
>> So do you know the origin of that? Like how did they come up with that?
>> Mike Judd, right, he writes [inaudible]. What was the origin of that?
>> Because there's a lot of Lao people in Texas.
>> Oh, he was from Texas?
>> It's like the second largest population in the United States. It's California, and then Texas. There's a lot of Lao people
there. My mom actually has cousins there.
>> And that's probably where Mike Judd got it?
>> I'm guessing so. Somebody knows about Lao people there.
>> I always wondered, like wow, like Simpsons. But, hmm, okay.
>> Yeah.
>> All right, excellent. Last question before the barriers, and we're one-third done. Do you feel that you significantly
had academic preparation for college? Were you significantly prepared for college?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Yes and no. I mean, academic-wise, I was, because I grew up in Alaska. We had a great education system. We're
actually one of the--I didn't know they were the like leaders in education, like social/emotional learning.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Until--because, you know, I do like a lot of efficacy [inaudible] and a lot of administrators, they go to Alaska every
year.
>> Oh, wow. I didn't know.
>> Yeah, because they've been doing--I went to Oakland too to look at the school districts in Oakland. And like Alaska
is the lead for social and emotional learning.
>> What is a social/emotional learning?
>> So like looking at the student at a wholistic, like not just a student, right? They look at like--they provide them with
counselors, they look at their whole situation instead of just kick them out of school. And like Alaska--I thought that
was normal, like growing up in Alaska, I'm like people are there for you, like at the schools. And like we had our
principal would hire Lao and Cambodian and Hmong people so that they can work with parents, right? Here in Fresno,
it's called like home school liaisons. But they're not very effective here in Fresno.
>> So they actually hire Hmongs to actually go into the community to talk to the parents?
>> Yeah.
>> For what reason?
>> Because they wanted our parents to understand what was going on. They would like invite our parents to potlucks.
And we would have like culture potlucks and like get to wear our clothes to school and like, you know, just teaching
everybody about our culture. And that's how I grew up.
>> Wow. And in Fresno, they're called teacher liaisons?
>> Home school liaisons.
>> And do you have the home school? Do they do that?
>> No, they work in the school. So like, for example, Ewing has a very large southeast Asian population. So they have a
Hmong home school liaison, and then they have a [inaudible] position for Lao because they want to connect with Lao
parents. But that position has been open all year. And so they don't have anybody for Lao, but the Malay can speak Lao
because her husband is Lao.
>> Okay.
>> But she's like I can't handle like Lao parents and Hmong parents, because there was like over a hundred Hmong
students there.
>> Wow. Okay.
>> And they have the largest like concentration of Lao, Cambodian and Hmong in Fresno for elementary school.
>> Where is it?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Ewing. It's on [inaudible] and Chestnut.
>> E-W-I-N-G?
>> Yes.
>> Ewing? And that's elementary?
>> Mhmm. And so yeah, so Alaska, it just was a lot better than here. So I did feel prepared to go to college. I actually
took a break because I was in a car accident my senior year in high school. And so I took a break. I didn't go straight to
college.
>> All right. Great. Okay, so the second-third is I'm asking about barriers. But with the emphasis of barriers overall. Not
just you personally, but barriers for southeast Asians in general. And, of course, looking at Laotian in particular, but also
in particular looking at Laotian males. So in particular, the male Laotian, okay? All right, so were there any barriers to
your--and I'm going to go to your barriers, but then I'm going to go to your [inaudible] so when I say your, first it's
yours, then I'm going to go co-ethnic, and then emphasize male. Or both, both genders, okay? Do you feel that you had
any barriers to your higher education success?
>> Yes, a lot.
>> Okay.
>> People didn't want me to go to college because I was a mom. So like my in-laws were like don't go to college. Just
work. And I had two kids during college. And I just was relentless. I was like I'm going to college. And my husband
didn't go to college. So they didn't want me to be more educated than my husband.
>> Oh, okay.
>> And so I struggled like doing multiple subjects. I was like, I'm so tired of this. I went to school for eight years
straight.
>> Was that full-time or part-time?
>> I was a full-time student.
>> Okay, and did you switch majors?
>> I did. Three times.
>> Okay, let's go through that.
>> I was originally a--so I transferred from city college. I was a psychology major. And then I was like, I don't want to
do this anymore. And then I wanted to be a science teacher. And I was like, I hate science. So I wasted a lot of time.
And then I finally found anthro. And then I majored in anthro.
>> How did you find anthro?
>> I was looking at something in like language and culture, and I was like, I don't want to do history because they have
too many prereqs. But then I was like, oh, anthro sounds better, you know?
>> Okay, cool. Who was your first anthro teacher?
>> Delcor [phonetic] Hank [phonetic]. Hank was, I was like, hears interesting.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Interesting. Okay, all right, so those are your barriers that you talked about. Do you see any barriers to Laotian
Americans?
>> To go to college?
>> Yes, and graduate.
>> And graduate.
>> Not just to go, but to graduate. We talked about having kids. It took you a long time. You switched majors. Were
there any financial barriers?
>> Yes, I'm in $78,000 in student loans.
>> Which is like pretty substantial.
>> Yeah, financially, yeah, I didn't work, so I was a full-time college student. And I have two small kids. My son was
autistic. So like being a mom and then being like a Laotian daughter as well, like I took care of my parents. And like I
give everyone money. I'm basically their ATM machine. Like I get to send my brothers money in prison, you know?
And like yes, financially, it was difficult. Like I wouldn't even--I didn't want to buy books because I was like but I have
boxes.
>> Oh, wow, okay.
>> And health wise, oh, I forgot my health. Yeah, I had two kids during college. So giving birth and having to go back
to school. I was sick a lot too.
>> Okay, what about Laotian Americans in general?
>> In general? I think, I think the barriers for Laotian Americans in general would be like cultural. Because a lot of
people I know, they don't go to college because they're like, oh, I don't have any friends to go to college. Like I'm not
going to go because I don't have any friends. And I'm like, well, you don't need friends. You can make friends, right?
But they kind of like stick to their circle. And then like once you come to college, you're like, I don't see other Lao
people.
>> Oh, okay.
>> And it's like out of the norm, right, to go to college. Like I know a lot of people in my husband's friend's group, like
they went to college, but they dropped out.
>> Tell me more. Tell me more. Were they males or females?
>> It was females. And like because they had kids. Their husband or boyfriend didn't want them to go to college. Like I
know my friend, she took like a 10-year break, and she was like, I'm going to go back to college. I was like, you better.
Like don't let your man tell you what to do. That is correct. Like a lot of them, I feel like, you know, once they get
married and stuff, like the male or the female, they're kind of just like I don't want to go to college.
>> What is this marrying? How old were they marrying?
>> Some of my friends have been with their boyfriends or husbands for--since they were in middle school.
>> So they got married in middle school?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> They've been together since middle school. And they're like in their 30s now.
>> What is middle school?
>> 14.
>> So they have the dated the same person since they were 14 years old?
>> Yes, and I was like, this is Fresno for you. And they're all my husband's friends, and their wives, right? And they
don't want to do anything.
>> Is that the norm?
>> None of them have a college degree. Out of my husband's friend's group, I was the only like wife that went to
college. And they're just like, we just want to work.
>> Isn't it cultural norm to stay with the person you dated since 14 years old? I mean, that's unheard of.
>> I was going to marry my first love in high school.
>> Oh, really?
>> That didn't happen.
>> So these people literally stayed with the person they dated when they were 14 years old, and they're 30 now?
>> They're 30 something now.
>> That sounds very atypical, like not--like is that typical here?
>> That's typical in the Lao community, yeah.
>> Are you even allowed to date at age 14?
>> You don't date. You marry.
>> You marry at age 14?
>> Like when you date someone, they consider you married.
>> At 14?
>> Yeah, I'm like, you're so dumb.
>> Oh, okay. Is that something they did in Laos or something?
>> I guess. I don't know. I didn't date. I didn't date in high school. Like I had a long distance boyfriend because I was
not--my brother's would kill people. So I didn't date. And so for me, I never had a guy tell me what to do, you know? I
did get married, but I didn't let my husband tell me what to do. I was like I'm going to college. I don't care if you're not
going to college. He actually graduated from continuation school. So for him, he was actually an athlete. And so he got
into like drugs and his friends, and they weren't in a gang, but they were like thugs, right? And so none of his friends
went to college. He didn't go to college. He never even thought about going to city college.
>> Wow, that's interesting.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> And a lot of the Lao guys that he knows, they actually went to city college like for financial aid, and they would drop
out.
>> Okay, what do you go for financial aid? What's the point of that? And why do you go to financial aid? Just to get
money? But don't you have to pay it back?
>> Not at city college, use grants. So like a lot of them would do that. And I'm like, that is a waste of time. But a lot of
his younger friends, like the ones that are like--he's 32. And so I'm 28. Like his friends like my age, they like went to
college for a little bit. But none of them I know have a degree. None of them have a degree, the Lao guys. They all work
in restaurants or like they grow marijuana.
>> It's legal.
>> Yeah, but it's like Lao people, that's like their go-to, because they're farmers, right?
>> It is legal in California to grow marijuana. Is it financially viable? Is it a big money-maker?
>> It is the
>> Okay. I mean, do they see it as a bigger stepping stone than getting a college degree?
>> Yes, they would prefer the fast money, you know? And they grow--it's legal, but they grow illegally, right? And so
they would rather do that than actually go to college because they're like, I'm making more money doing this.
>> Is there enough to support an entire family?
>> Yes, they're making hundreds of thousands of dollars.
>> If they're making hundreds of thousands, would they buy a big house or something?
>> Some of them actually start businesses or some of them just blow it in Vegas or somewhere. Yeah.
>> And is it a common occupation?
>> In the Lao community? Yeah. They had a Fresno Bee article about Lao people being the top marijuana growers.
>> Well, it's legal and viable.
>> Yeah.
>> Do they actually use it as well? Or do they just sell it?
>> Some of them smoke it, I believe.
>> Do they smoke it in Asia? Do they smoke marijuana? They do?
>> They do.
>> I thought it was opium.
>> My mom said they--well, they didn't--like she didn't smoke it, but they put it like in their food and stuff.
>> Okay, cool. Okay, they put it in the feed for what reason? Just as flavoring?
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Like to help them sleep, I guess.
>> Okay.
>> But yeah, they have a marijuana trade in southeast Asia. It's out of Thailand.
>> Interesting. Okay. When you were--I think you already answered this. But when you were in college, did you work
outside the school or inside the school? And how many hours did you work? And do you think this impeded your
graduation? But you said you didn't work.
>> I didn't work until senior year, like my senior year in college. I was a promotional model for Jack Daniels.
>> What?
>> Yeah, it was a part-time thing that I did.
>> What does that mean?
>> So I just would be their promo girl. Like I would go to restaurants.
>> Is Jack Daniels an alcohol?
>> Yeah.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Whiskey.
>> What?
>> Well, their [inaudible] was like their promotion model. I would go and give out samples of Jack Daniels. And like it
was just a modeling gig, basically.
>> Oh my gosh, okay. That's a first in my interviews. Usually it's I worked at a restaurant.
>> I didn't do restaurants. I was like, my husband's a chef, so I was like, no, I'm not doing any more shows. And I just
did that part-time.
>> And you handed out--what did you hand out?
>> Alcohol.
>> Was it like a little bottle?
>> Like we would give out samples in restaurants. Like we would go to 500 club, and then we would give out free Jack
Daniel T-shirts. And we also did like other companies like Blue Moon, I would go hand out Blue Moon mugs at Costco
and stuff like that.
>> Oh, okay, okay, like little [inaudible] okay. Interesting.
[ Inaudible ]
>> I'm weird. But I worked during my master's. I started working at firm, so working in the community. Actually, for
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
my master's, my work actually helped me like be able to write about the community and do things. So it didn't impede
my graduation. I graduated in time. I graduated in two years.
>> Which is excellent with two kids.
>> Yes.
>> When you were, I guess contrast or undergraduate, were you give any work fellowships or financial aid? And if you
weren't, do you think that if you were to be given financial aid as your master's and BA, do you think that would help
you graduate?
>> I did get financial aid. I got grants, and then I got the university grant. And then I took out loans so I wasn't working.
>> Okay, so you got financial aid. And you got grants.
>> Grants and loans.
>> And you had the loans? And then you said you had the university?
>> The university grant.
>> What is the university grant?
>> It's like, it matches the Pell grant. It's like $2,500 a semester.
>> Matches the Pell grant.
>> And so like tuition is like $3,000 something. So one of the grants would cover the tuition. And I had to take out
loans because I didn't really work.
>> So that's actually quite--that's pretty good, actually. And actually at the very end, I'm going to ask you, not now, but
at the very end, I'm going to ask you, what do you want? And so you could say at that time like financially what you
would want, okay? Do you think that these fellowships or financial aid, do you think it helps you graduate?
>> Yes. I was only able to come to school because of my grants and loans.
>> Oh, wow.
>> I would not have been able to afford tuition since my husband was the only one working full-time.
>> Excellent. Who watched your kids when you were doing this? Do you use like the university childcare center?
>> No.
>> Okay. We have one, though, right?
>> We do, but there's like a wait list. And my son's autistic, so no one watches my son. I actually would go like online
or I'll do like night classes like when my husband is off. But when I did need someone to, my parents finally moved out
to California to help me out. But they don't like watching him either. Because my son is autistic, no one wants to watch
him. And they don't really understand autism, so sometimes I brought my kids to school with me.
>> How was that received?
>> Not well. No one wants kids in the classrooms here. And when I was breastfeeding, they didn't have the rooms until
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
like after I stopped breastfeeding.
>> Yeah, there are rooms here.
>> Yeah. It's not very child friendly here.
>> What would make it more child friendly for you?
>> I think it would be easier if--like we do have a childcare center, but it's like impacted. So like it is really hard to get
in.
>> So getting more access to childcare center?
>> And like my son went to the autism center when I was in my master's.
>> Okay, can you speak about the autism center?
>> So it's like the early childhood, like early intervention. So my son--I didn't go through the university. Actually, I had
to go through a CVRC.
>> What's that?
>> Central Value Regional Center. It helped me out a lot. My son was here for 20 hours a week.
>> Wow. Okay, and that was when you were an undergrad or grad or both?
>> My grad.
>> Grad, okay. I ought to look into that system. Okay, you talked about already your educational barriers. So we're
going to skip those, okay? You talked about that you were in charge of your children, so we skip those questions. Do
you feel that there are any macro aggressions or micro aggressions while you were in undergrad or grad? And if there
was, did it affect you?
>> Micro aggressions, can you explain that term?
>> Well, macro aggressions would be something like you got beat up and there was like almost [inaudible] or
something, like full on racism, right? Micro aggressions would be something like, oh, I didn't know black people are
good in English. Because I thought you were only good at, you know, sports or something. So it's not full out racism.
It's like little things. So do you think that you experienced any of these things?
>> Not macro. Not macro, like, micro. Yes, and some professors are like wow, your English is good. I'm like, I was
born here. And then a lot of them were like, oh, I didn't--like people would judge me by the way I looked. Like I'm an
Asian female. Like they were like, oh, I didn't think you were smart. I'm like, what?
>> Really?
>> Yes.
>> It goes against the stereotype.
>> Right. I'm like mmm. And then, I don't know, I felt like kind of left out because I had kids. And a lot of people on
campus didn't. The ones in my class didn't. So yeah.
>> Okay. So more the kids.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Yeah, being a mom.
>> Okay, did you feel that--and maybe there was no effect. But did you think there was any kind of minority clash or
gender or race class gender politics, any supremacy? And you actually said that there was already assumption
inferiority. Do you think that you experienced that at all? And you actually kind of already answered that.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah, I think it did have some effect on me, because I didn't really want to come to campus. I actually liked city
college better than I liked Fresno State.
>> Really? Tell me why.
>> I just, I felt more personal. In city college, like I felt like the professors cared more. And in coming to Fresno State, I
was like, they don't care. Everyone is miserable here. And yeah, and also being young with two kids felt like something
that female professors are not nice to me.
>> Tell me more.
>> I just, I don't know what her thing was. Most of them aren't married, don't have kids. And they're just like, oh, I'm
just six years old. And those kids had never had kids. And I'm like, that sucks.
>> That is the commonality. It's actually more so in [inaudible] as you'll see.
>> It's a little weird.
>> It's the norm.
>> Yeah, they look like you're the alien. Most female professors don't have kids. I think over 50%.
>> And they're so depressed.
>> And non-married too.
>> Yeah, I'm like mmm.
[ Inaudible ]
>> Okay, great. Thank you. Sorry about that.
>> That's okay.
>> All right, so now we went over barriers, which is the last part of success. So this is where I pretty much pump you
for information on what do you want, what do you want. So down the line, what do you want to make you graduate in
four years or your ethnic, co-ethnic group to graduate in general, but graduate in four years or six years, it doesn't matter
the years, but just like lists down the line what do you want. But let me just ask you these three questions, and then we're
going to list down the line what you want. So eventually I would like to go to President Castro and have him list of like
30 things, these are the barriers, it doesn't matter, I mean, yeah, barriers, that's good that you should know. But I have a
list with no names attached. They want workshop. They want smaller classes. They want a peer management. So it will
be a list down the line. So if you can add anything to this list, because I will be making appointment with President
Castro to say this is what they want, okay? Obviously you said financial aid made a big difference. So, you know, if you
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
say free ride whole way through, I mean, I would include that. But first I'm going to ask you these three questions. And
then I'm going to go into what do you want down the line, okay? Which is kind of the meat of the whole interview,
okay? All right, so let's talk about you, your personality. Why were you able to cross that BA line when so many other
southeast Asians [inaudible] are not? What is it about your personality that enabled you personally to graduate? What is
it about you? Not your family. You.
>> Me? I always loved to read. I was encouraged to read when I was younger. And so that made me like like to study.
And I was like, I always--I didn't really know what college was until something was offered in my elementary school. It
was like a scholarship. And if you got Bs, like a 3.0 throughout high school, you can get a $25,000 scholarship to the
UAA, University of Anchorage Alaska.
>> Oh, wow.
>> And I didn't stay right in Alaska. But after that, I was like, I have to go to college. And I wanted to be a psychologist.
So I was like, I need to go to college to get a career. Like I'm not going to work at Red Robin. Like I worked--that was
one of my first jobs. And then I was like, I'm not going to work at a Korean clothing store for the rest of my life. And I
was like, I'm just not going to be working at a restaurant or a store period. So I was like, I need to go to college. And it
was just I guess setting goals for myself, especially, I didn't want to live the way I grew up, you know? So I wanted a
better life for myself. And I'm just very stubborn.
>> Okay, so very stubborn. Okay, very nice. Okay, so let's move on to your family. What did your family do, if
anything, to help you succeed in your four-year graduation, or in your achievement educationally? What did your
parents do?
>> My parents moved here from Alaska to help me with my kids. They don't watch them all the time, but they would
watch them so that I can, like right now, he's picking up my son right now so I can work. So they help me with
childcare. They also like, they supported me even though they didn't understand what college was. I'm just like they just
give me whatever I ask for.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> And my husband, he didn't understand college either. But he was like, just do whatever you want. Just go for it. And
so just having my family just believe in me, because I was the first to go to college and the first to graduate, they didn't-I have an AA, BA and MA, and they didn't go to my graduation.
>> I've noticed that's an Asian thing.
>> They're like, why are we going to go? There's so much people.
>> You're not the first person who's said that.
>> They don't understand like how important it is. Like for my bachelor's, I didn't know like convocation was like when
you walk, right? I was like, I'm just going to go. And then I called my family. I'm like, no one's here for me. And they
showed up.
[ Inaudible ]
>> Okay, that's good, that's good.
>> For my master's, no one was there. Only my friends.
>> Is it they just don't have that in Asia? Like they don't have-file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> My sister was graduating the same time when I was getting my master's. So my parents--so my sister got her
associate's, and she's a 4.0, and she got a medal at city college. So they're like, we're just going to go over there. And I
was like, and she's a single mom too, so they're like, oh, we're going to go to her. And they threw me a party. But I just
feel like they weren't very proud of me. They're like, good job. And I told them I want to be a doctor, and they're like,
why are you going to go back to school for? My mom's like, I'm tired, I don't want to help you watch your kids. I was
like, well, you're going to, because I'm going to become a doctor.
>> Okay, awesome, okay. Okay, so this is--okay, so now, let's see, I've already asked you the bridges. I've already said
cultural, educational, financial, structural, I've already asked you. Were there any community, were there any
community institutional enablers that helped you like in the community? You talked about school. You talked about
financial. You talked about your family. Your talked about--anything in the community like dance teams or hip hop
things, anything in the community that helped you at all?
>> No.
>> Okay.
>> Quick short, because I was not from Fresno, like I didn't really have a support like here, you know? That's what I felt
like. I was like, I'm just doing my own.
>> Was college at all cultivated in your household?
>> No.
>> Okay, what makes Laotians pursue leadership? So you're a leader. What makes you pursue leadership roles in higher
education? Like why are you doing this?
>> Because no one else is.
>> Okay.
>> And I want to be a good mom.
>> Okay.
>> And, you know, I want to really encourage like other Lao women to take leadership roles. Because no one does it.
No one wants to do anything. No one wants to speak up. And it's the hardest thing about our community.
>> Did you have a Lao educational day they have on campus?
>> I wasn't invited.
>> Oh, okay. I mean, you could have just shown up. No invitation needed.
>> Somebody didn't want me there, so that was okay.
>> Okay, sorry. I e-mailed someone. I thought you were coming, but I e-mailed a high school teacher to go. She wasn't
invited either.
>> What's her name?
>> Chai.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Oh, Chai. Yeah, she didn't know about it either. And I'm like what? By the way, she's going to probably interview
for the same exact--well, mine is all southeast Asians. She's only doing Lao.
>> She interviewed me before.
>> Oh, really? Oh, okay.
>> I'm surprised she didn't know about the conference. The lady is her cousin, so.
>> Well.
>> Yeah, she didn't know about it. And I said, it's a little random, but she's like, I didn't know about it. But she said they
were just going to have a good--like they didn't have that function of inviting--I mean, there was no communication.
That's what she said.
>> My family, friend, and is also a high school teacher, she's a physics teacher at Duncan. She's Lao. She's been an
educator for 18 years. And they told her school two days before the conference. And she was like, I didn't even know
about this. Like yeah.
>> That's what they said. So the communication was not--it just didn't.
>> They didn't ask us to help them.
>> It's going to be a yearly thing. So next year, you take a leadership role, and just insert yourself, because the
communication. Obviously, they need a communication director to get the word out.
>> She is actually on our board for firm.
>> Okay, well, get out there. All right, okay, so we're going to skip the community, because you said--okay, so now,
this is down the line. This is the last question. What do you need? Okay, so here, okay, so this is my down the line.
What do you want to see the college help you graduate in four years? So I am focusing also on four years. And again,
smaller classes, more co-ethnic professors, more co-ethnic classmates, more ethnic clubs. Do you need success
workshops? What can we do at Fresno State? Other things like micro aggression, macro aggression, you know, I think
of some other--but here, like workshops, what workshop do you want? What do you want? You want a breastfeeding
station? What do you need? Do you need a club? By the way, at UC Riverside, there is a mother's club actually on
campus. And they have a yearly speaker series, actually, where all the moms come, and they have a talk, and they talk
about strategies. And there's a mom actual room. And there's a mom thing. So like what do you need down the line?
Okay, so let's go down the line. Smaller classes, would that be more helpful, or no difference?
>> It didn't make a difference to me.
>> No difference, okay. Co-ethnic professors?
>> Yes, I would have preferred to see a lot more southeast Asians at Fresno State. I didn't have one.
>> As professors or staff or both?
>> Both.
>> Okay, so more staff. What about gender? More same-gender professors, or no difference?
>> No difference.
>> Same gender, no difference. Okay, how about co-ethnic classmates? Would it have been a big difference? And I'm
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
speaking specifically Laotian classmates. Do you want a cohort system? Do you want a mentorship system? Do you
want an older Laotian to always--because we do have a Lao club, right? So do you need a mentor older to mentor you
directly, which they do have at UC San Diego.
>> I think it would have been helpful for me. I didn't see any other Lao people in my classes.
>> Oh, wow.
>> And I've been coming to Fresno State since 2011. So 2011 to 2016.
>> Not even one?
>> Not in my class. I know Lao people exist because some of them are my friends, right? And so but none of them were
in my class. We're not in the same major.
>> Oh, wow. What major are they in?
>> They were in business.
>> Okay, well, actually, I think that it is a very high Asian major, business and nursing. That's primarily if you look at
the rate of ethnic groups, they tend to go that way. Okay, so you would want more same ethnic group Laotians in your
classes.
>> Yeah, that would have been an interesting thing.
>> And again, you talked about it a little bit. You couldn't come to class because of your children. But what about ethnic
clubs, would that make a difference? More ethnic clubs.
>> More ethnic clubs?
>> Or no difference?
>> I didn't join. No, it wouldn't have made a difference for me. It would be cool if it had had a mom's club, but like not.
>> Mom's club. That's actually something I could ask for. Mom's club. That is something doable that we could do.
>> Yeah, it was really--I don't feel like the campus was--it's more centered toward, you know, younger people, like not
people with families. But like UC is kind of like a comradery of families, right? Here, it was just like I brought my son
here once or twice. I was like, so you're going to know what college is.
>> All the UCs have family centers. Because they have grad students who have families.
>> Right.
>> All right, so these are the last questions. So now down the line. What workshops do you want to see here that you
think would be helpful to you?
>> I would have liked to have seen like women, like leaders, like women leaders.
>> Women leader workshop.
>> Yeah.
>> Women leader workshop. Women of color leader, women southeast Asian leader. Be specific.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> It would be women of color, like for me, that would have been very helpful.
>> Leadership. Series one off. Do you want a whole year or do you want like twice, three times a year, what would you
want?
>> Like series, like throughout the year.
>> A series of what? What do you want to see in the series?
>> What do you mean?
>> Like in each workshop, do you want one on public speaking, do you want one on managing your time? What would
you want on this leader of color series? Would you want some woman talking about her life history? Like you be a
guest speaker, like what would you want in the series?
>> I guess a little bit of everything. Because like there are success stories or like, you know, skills that we can, that like,
I guess, life skills, communication skills, networking. I think we don't have enough networking opportunities.
>> Okay, anything else?
>> Not that I can think of it.
>> So a little bit of everything. Success stories, life skills, communication skills, networking. Okay, and financial aid,
what would be helpful?
>> I don't know. Financial aid.
>> Did you want completely free?
>> Yes, I would have liked completely free. I have $78,000 in student loans.
>> I will put that down. Free college.
>> They gave me a statement, and they were like, $900 a month. I'm like, I cannot afford $900 a month to pay back my
loans.
>> That is crazy. All right, so that's it. What do you need? What at Fresno State do you want to see more of? What do
you need at Fresno State for you to graduate? And then my last question is, anything else you want to add to this?
>> Okay, what do I want to see at Fresno State to graduate? I feel like I answered it, but I don't know.
>> Workshops and the groups, mother's group, financial aid. But anything else that you want to mention?
>> I would like to see more classes and southeast Asians. Because I think we have a certificate, right? But I didn't see
anything about southeast Asians. I think I took one class, actually. Like cultures of southeast Asia or something.
>> Oh, who taught that one?
>> What's his name?
>> Delta?
>> No.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]
>> Ing?
>> No, the Indian man. Native-American man. I guess he did a dissertation in China or something.
>> Oh, okay. So more classes on southeast Asians.
>> Yeah.
>> Southeast Asian American or southeast Asia? Or both?
>> Both. Language as well. Like I know they offer Hmong now. But like Lao and Khmer, it would have been
interesting because we have such a big southeast Asian population in Fresno, but like we don't have anything taught at
our university. Like in Illinois, they have like a language institute that teaches all the southeast Asian languages.
>> Really?
>> Is it Illinois or Wisconsin? It might be Madison, Wisconsin or Illinois. I forget.
>> They have a big population.
>> Yeah, it's like a language institute, though, that teaches southeast Asian languages.
>> Okay. Awesome. And that is it. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
>> No.
>> Okay, well, thank you so much for spending your time. And I will compile a list. And then, of course, if I ever write
anything, I will send you a copy. I will be e-mailing this back to you tonight. They are just notes. So at the time, feel
free to look through. And if you want to correct, delete, or anything you'd like, feel free. But if you do approve of it,
optionally, you can please e-mail back I approve. And that is it. When that turns off, do you have to go back to work?
>> Not really. I should, though.
>> It's up to you. Okay.
file:///C/...lley%20Southeast%20Asian%20Successful%20Voices/Files%20for%20upload/5_Simara_Vongthongdy_Loation_Mother.clean.txt[3/10/2022 9:01:23 AM]