In the summer that followed the third grade, I woke up one morning, and my parents were gone. It’s a blurry memory, like a water damaged page of a book. I don’t even remember saying goodbye to them. All I knew at the time was that Daddy was sick. Mommy and Daddy had to go to Vietnam so that he can get better, leaving me and my siblings in the care of our grandparents. Before we knew it,...

Topic: "Tell us about your engagement with your family, friends, school, community, and/or world. Are you a leader in any sense of the word? What have you accomplished and what do you hope to accomplish? Who are you as a person within a community?"