Dear Mom,
I know you are a traditional woman. You take care of the family and give me advice. I remember when I was young, we had a difficult life. We were poor, and you had several jobs, but there wasn’t enough money to pay my high school tuition fee. I told you I wanted to drop out of high school, so I could find a job and help you pay for my younger brother’s high school and college fees. But you told me not to worry about the money, that it was not important, and I could go to school. You told me that I didn’t need to do anything except study, and that was the priority in my life. You explained that, when you were a girl, people said girls didn’t need to go to school. You lost your opportunity. You wanted to read books, but didn’t know how to read. You wanted to write your name, but didn’t know how to write. You told me, even though life is difficult, please don’t give up any chance to go to school.
I’m so grateful you told this to me. I love you. You’re not only my mother, you’re also my teacher and best friend.
Love,
Yan
Yan Ling Zhu, thirty-seven years old, was born in China, and has lived in New York for seven years. She has two daughters, both of whom go to school. Yan Ling Zhu’s goals are to continue studying English and to complete her GED. She attends Project Reach Youth at Family Health Centers at NYU Langone, and is taught by Shannon Flam. The site supervisor is John Kefalas.