When I Got Here
Immigrants share inspiring personal stories of why they left their homelands, how they got to the U.S., and the lives they are making here. They meet the challenges of a new land with determination, perseverance, resilience, and creativity.
Listeners will see America through their eyes and renew their appreciation for the land we love.
When I Got Here is narrated, edited and written by Byron Harris. Harris is a longtime Dallas journalist and winner of two Peabody Awards.
Original music by John Wesley Gibson, composer-in-residence for the Dallas Winds.
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When I Got Here
Mylinh (Vietnam): Resilient, Resourceful, Rejoicing
In 1979 Mylinh Luong left communist Vietnam with her father, mother, and four siblings in a crowded fishing boat. She was six years old. She vividly recalls the deprivation, squalor, and brutality of the journey and life in a Malaysian refugee camp. She knows what it is to be without resources, education, family, and friends. In the US, she experienced acts of kindness that helped her overcome the lack of these things. Now a successful businesswoman, she puts her knowledge into practice by helping and supporting other immigrants in a big way.