How many of you have ever felt completely alone in a place that was supposed to be your fresh start?
My name is Tom, and I am Vietnamese. When I was fifteen years old, my twin brother Jerry and I moved to Canada to continue our education. We could not speak English. We could not even find our way out of the airport on our own. We just followed the crowd and hoped for the best.
What came next were some of the loneliest and most difficult years of my life. I struggled to make friends. I felt invisible every single day. I failed the IELTS English exam four times. I disappointed my parents, who had worked incredibly hard and sacrificed so much to send us abroad. There were nights when all I did was cry in my room and wonder if things would ever get better.
But they did. And this book is the story of how.
I did not write this book after achieving great success. I wrote it when I was twenty-one, while I was still on my way there — because I believe that is when it matters most.. I believe that every international student, every immigrant, and every young person who has ever felt lost in a foreign land deserves to know that their lowest moments are not their last ones.
If you are struggling right now — with school, with loneliness, with feeling like you do not belong — I hope my story gives you hope. I hope you learn from my mistakes. And I hope it reminds you that life will surely be brighter tomorrow than it is today.
We can do it. I believe that. I really do.