“All of my students' grades went up. They even did the homework! My students actually looked forward to class each day.”

— April Holland, Teacher, Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School

STUDENT ANTHOLOGIES EXCERPTS

Lylie Hinh's “From Frisco to Vegas and Back Again”

in Speaking My Piece: True Stories of Choices by San Francisco Youth

Hey-o, all! My name is Lylie (Lily) Hinh (Hin). I’m proud to be Vietnamese and part Chinese. I live with my grandparents, three uncles, two aunts, one -aunt and a great-uncle. Yes, we’re all crammed into one two-story house. A full housgreate, some would say. My favorite thing to do is draw manga and anime. My favorite anime is D.N. Angel. I listen to rap, rock, techno and hip-hop. My favorite song artist is Slim, but right now my favorite song is “Last Resort” by Papa Roach. I love to play this computer game called Nexus TK. When I grow up, I hope to be a cartoonist or a game technician. Well, I hope you like my story. Ciao for now.

I lived with my mom and dad around the Mission area of Frisco, and I would usually go over to my grandma’s house for her to baby-sit me. My mom and my grandmother were constantly fighting. One day, my mom got so angry with her, and my mom and dad decided to move. I had to choose whether to go to Vegas and live with my mom and dad, or live with my grandparents in Frisco.

Usually, your common sense would tell you to live with your mother, but my mother was still young. She was in her fourth year of college, so my grandma took care of me most of the time. She was like another mom to me, and yet I loved both of them dearly. To choose, I flipped a coin. I didn’t master flipping coins until I was seven; I just threw it, but it did flip three to five times. Heads I go with my mom, tails I stay with my grandparents.

I flipped the coin, and it landed on heads, so I went along with my mom. A week later, I came up with this weird lip virus that made it dry even if you drank water. My skin became very dry. It wasn’t serious, just irritating. I didn’t know what to do, so I lay in my bed thinking carefully about the choice I made, and the choice I should have made.

My room was about as big as a classroom, and it was on the second story of the house. Stuffed animals were lined up everywhere in my room. My bed was soft and comfortable, and a nice white paint covered the walls and ceiling. The floor was carpeted in a marble color, and the air smelled as if you were in a beautiful forest, fresh and relaxing. I would hear birds chirping outside my window in the morning, and the weather outside was usually hot. It was March 9, 1996, and the mood was blank and saddening. I could almost taste the soup my mom was making. I went downstairs to tell my mom I wanted to go back to Frisco.

My mom is Vietnamese, and her skin is as light as a peach. She has long, straight brunette hair, and was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. She was making soup and reading at the same time. She sounded soft like the wind on a warm day. She especially liked to cook this very soup because it reminded her of her father. He was so kind, and he is the one we both missed most.

“A-ma,” I muttered, “I want to talk to you.”

“What is it, hon?” my mother asked, “are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I sighed, “It’s just that, well, I really want to go home.”

“Lylie, don’t you want to stay with your father and me?” my mother asked.

“A-ma!” I cried, “I hate it here. The weather is too hot, my lips are all dried up, and the water makes my skin dry. I can’t stand it here any longer!”

“Well, I’ll see what I can do,” she sighed and observed the expression on my face.

That was a segment in my life I soon regretted. I was back at the airport two weeks later, and I went back home to Frisco. If I had stayed in Vegas, I might have gotten to live with my mother and have a normal life. I would have gotten used to the weather sooner or later, but I wouldn’t have half of the friends I do now. Living with my grandparents, I have less responsibility. Oh, did I mention I was two when all of this happened? I think that two-year-olds should get another chance at choosing things. I regret the choice I made, and yet, I like what I chose. My home now is both Vegas and Frisco, and I’m proud of it.

Lylie Hinh is a middle school student in San Francisco.

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