The Hmong Community by William

The Hmong Community by William - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

In the Hmong community, there are people who slowly lose themselves and are drawn away from their culture. Being Hmong myself, I try to maintain my culture in every way possible. My friends and cousins are deciding not to speak Hmong or even attempt to do any of the cultural activities. I was afraid of what would happen to us if we kept on swaying from our own culture. I soon found a Hmong youth group around the Seattle area. They called themselves "Spiral Youth Club." This group went on camping trips and held hangouts just for the Hmong community. They inspired me to join so I would not lose my culture. Slowly, I started to regain my identity. I had to share this group with my friends and cousins. Spiral held an Open Mic where anyone could perform and show off their talents. I told my friends and cousins about it and they were willing to go. Some even chose to perform. I was glad to see that the Hmong community was slowly rebuilding themselves.
Ever since I joined Spiral I have been speaking Hmong more often and have been doing more cultural activities with the community. Our activities in the Hmong community have been increasing every year. More picnics are being planned, more clan new years' are being held and more people are coming out to participate in the events. I tend to plan some hangouts with my fellow Hmong friends where we join together and spend some time learning about our culture. We talk about the history of where we come from and how we came to be.
After all of these events, my identity has become more clear to me. I know more about who I am and where I come from. These past several years have been a blessing and I do not regret volunteering to help out my Hmong community. And it all started with a small youth group.