“Having refugee parents has definitely changed my perspective. It makes me realize how blessed I am with all that I have. ”

     These are the words of sophomore Rachel Tat. Both of Rachel Tat’s parents fled Vietnam to the United States in search of a better life. After all, the United States of America is often called “The Land of Opportunity.

    For many refugees, the United States is a place of hope. In the United States, people can choose their job, their education, their way of life. Many refugees often risk their lives to be resettled in the United States.

    For some students in NHS, it can be hard to imagine that some of those refugees chose to resettle here. But for others like Rachel Tat, it hits closer to home.

    “I’ve always heard my dad’s story, probably ever since I was born, so I don’t really know what I thought the first time around,” Rachel Tat said.

    Rachel Tat’s father, Dan Tat, escaped from Vietnam in 1981 when he was 18 years old. In Vietnam, opportunities weren’t easy to find for Dan Tat. He believed he could find a better life in another country.

    “The escape process is very secret,” Dan Tat said. “The only people who know are the people who planned the escape and just your family.”

    Dan Tat, along with others, hoped to escape to a better life. But he didn’t realize the struggle he would have to go through to arrive in a better place.

    He attempted to flee four times. The last time was the only time it worked. After taking a bus to the Vietnam coast and hiding in a safe house for a day, Dan Tat prepared to leave his native country. The boat he escaped in small, but almost 90 people were also on the boat, all looking to escape Vietnam.  The journey was terrifying.

    “We packed like sardines, down inside the bottom of the boat,” Dan Tat said. “Many people got seasick, and there was not a lot of food and water in the boat.”

     Refugee boats were prime targets for pirates. All he brought with him on the boat was clothing and a little money, but by the time he arrived in Thailand, he only had the clothes on his back.

    “The local people are not [welcoming] to refugees,” Dan Tat said.

    The locals in Thailand gave Dan Tat’s group fuel for their boat and food for their journey, but his group did not want to leave.

     “[At] that time we had been in the ocean for four days, four nights, and everybody was exhausted,” Dan Tat said. “We don’t want to go anymore.”

    Rather than take the fuel and food, his group destroyed their boat, so they would not be able to leave Thailand. The United Nations was notified and all the escapees were resettled in refugee camps.

    “At the refugee camp, I got interviewed by the American representative,” Dan Tat said. “And I [chose] to go to the United States.”

    Soon after, all of his documents were approved and Dan Tat left the camp. He didn’t know any English.

    “When I arrived in Chicago, [at] maybe one or two o’clock at night, I got off the plane,” Dan Tat said. “And I saw a couple I never met before, and they held a sign [reading] ‘Dan Tat.’”

    The couple turned out to be his sponsor family. They took him back to their house where he stayed for 3 months.

    The States were nothing like what Dan Tat had imagined. But he quickly adjusted to the country. He began mowing lawns for money

    “One evening, when I was done with my work, and I walked back to my sponsor house, and the whole house was empty,” Dan Tat said. “They were gone. They left me.”

    The couple had left Dan Tat behind. He had no money, no education, and no one to turn to.

    “Fortunately for me, the guy I worked for drove by the house,” Dan Tat said.

    With the help of his boss, Dan Tat found an apartment to rent. It wasn’t the best apartment, but Dan Tat says it was fine.

    Dan Tat continued to go on with his life. He went to school and learned English.

    “Later on, when I was able to master the language, I went to junior college,” Dan Tat said. “It took me three years to get an Associate’s degree. After that, I went to real university and got a Bachelor’s degree from Ohio State. Later on, I got a Master’s degree from [Anderson] university.”

    Dan Tat now lives in Noblesville, with a wife, two kids and a steady job as an accountant.

    “I have never been back to Vietnam,” Dan Tat said. “It’s been about 24 years now [since I escaped].”

    Dan Tat was able to make his own success and future. It may have been difficult to adjust, but he says it was for the better. In Vietnam, it would have been nearly impossible to escape the future laid out for him.

    “I’m always inspired by the story to be grateful and to always work hard,” Rachel Tat said.