April 8, 2016: Arn Chorn Pond's Story

Arn Chorn Pond © Boston Globe

This past Friday, our school had the wonderful opportunity to listen to Arn Chorn Pond share his stories, experiences, and words of wisdom to the future generations. Arn Chorn Pond was a child imprisoned by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the 1970's. His eloquent speech told of the adversities he faced while in the camp and how music literally saved his life. Arn's story of his childhood experiences are very touching and he amazed me with his strength and persistence even in the face of danger. Yet despite all the incredible hardships and unimaginable circumstances Arn faced one of the most memorable experiences he described was when he first came to America. Arn had a hard time fitting into the community of exclusive American high school students. They didn't understand his experiences and what he had been through and so the students constantly taunted and teased Arn. This caused Arn to feel suicidal thoughts and only recovered at the rediscovery of music, which his adopted father encouraged him to revive his musical passion. I found this really eye opening since it is comparable to immigrants from many other countries experiences in America. In my English III Contemporary American Cultures class, we have read many experiences of immigrants coming to America and they all share one common element. This common element is that no one knows their story and no one really cares enough to find out either. Arn warns us of this and encouraged us as the future generation to learn people's stories, to ask, and to share our own stories. I was inspired by Arn's words and will definitely carry them with me as I continue on my Global Studies journey.