Tenzin Choying, a Tibetan youth in America
Dreaming to provide health care “back home”
Dreaming to provide health care “back home”
animals — the yak — and my grandparents, around 1959. My mom fled with my grandfather. My grandmother stayed back because they thought that the
Chinese might suspect they were actually running away. She later fled along with other friends.”
As refugees with absolutely no property in India, Choying grew up in poverty. “We didn’t have anything,” Choying recalled. “My mom made rugs and
blankets, and then would go to cities with my brother to sell them.” They were quite fortunate, however, when her father was chosen as one of the 1,000 to come
to the U.S. “So, he worked ‘overseas’ and sent us money. Because of that, my mom was able to send me, my sister, and brother, to school. He worked at a
hospital here in housekeeping. I don’t remember seeing him while I was growing up because he was already in the U.S. The first time I saw him was when I was
seven or eight, when he came home to visit.”
The family was reunited in 1999 when Choying father’s petition for family reunification was approved. “We came here through France and Chicago, and we
had a fan-like board that read, ‘We Don’t Understand English; Help Us.’” Her brother, however, was left behind in India to take care of his grandparents. “They
needed at least one of us to help them with food and other necessities. My grandparents had passed away; but my brother is still there. His work provides him with
a house; but he is alone. It’s hard for him to come here. We also filed a petition for his immigration but it takes a long time. He’s now 33 years old.”
Choying recalled her excitement when she first landed in the U.S. “Everything here was clean and buildings were very tall,” Choying said, comparing her
new experience with what she had seen while growing up in Dharamsala. “The roads in India were one-way. We didn’t have speed limits there; we didn’t have
cable; and in the morning we had to go get water and heat it ourselves. And there were monkeys around.”
Despite the hardships they had to endure in India, Choying felt it was all right as long as the family was together. She then talked of her ‘fortune’ of being in
the U.S., particularly the opportunity to get a higher education. “Through education, I could better myself and create a better future for my family and my future
generation,” she said. Her mother also works as a housekeeper, just like her father.
Going to American schools, however, was a hurdle for Choying, as she couldn’t relate to other students’ behavior in school. She talked of students who
disrespected other students and teachers, something that was not allowed in India. “It’s really different in India; you’re not supposed to talk back to your teacher
and if you don’t do your homework or you are disrespectful, the teacher can beat or hit you,” Choying said. “I guess it depends on how you’re brought up, and
maybe some American students are not taught to do that, or their parents are too busy to discipline them; that’s why they’re disrespectful to their teachers and
classmates.”
To survive the school environment, Choying concentrated on her school work and other positive activities. “I’m active in student organizations and saw to it
that I don’t get in trouble,” she said. “Every Saturday, I attend a Tibetan School located in a church on the west side. We have classes in history, reading and
dancing. We are also taught the Tibetan language to keep the culture alive.”
Choying has kept her Buddhist practices alive with the help of her uncle, a Tibetan Buddhist monk who lives in Alabama. He regularly sends her prayer books.
“He‘s the only Tibetan monk there; he wanted to go to a place where no one knows about Buddhism and he wanted to spread the knowledge about our culture,”
she proudly said of her uncle. “He has his own Buddhism class on Tuesdays in which he teaches about peace. He sends me books on Buddhism and how to be a
Tibetan person. My parents are too busy with work and I don’t want to bother them.”
Choying dreams of becoming a nurse and going back to India. Her dream was shaped by her family’s past, and she wants to make hers and other Tibetans’ lives
much better. “When my grandmother became ill in India, our family didn’t have money,” Choying recalled with sorrow. “We couldn’t afford a doctor or buy her
medication. All we did was to make her as comfortable as possible: warm her, give her food, but she passed away. So I want to go back to India and help those
who don’t have money to afford medical attention. I’d like to help them without any cost, if they don’t have money. And if I’m successful, I’d like to create a
hospital for them.”
In order to pursue her dream, however, Choying is focusing on completing a college education first. She is now a student at Edgewood College with the
help of a number of scholarships that she won while a senior at East High. “I got a Founder’s Scholarship from Edgewood College,” she said, adding that she also
received two other scholarships, including one from the Business Forum (one-year scholarship in the amount of $2,000); the total of all her scholarships was
$17,000 (for four years).
Choying was shy to credit her scholastic record as the sole reason for being rewarded such scholarships. She said it was her teachers and counselors who
“pushed” her to do her best in school and dream big. It was also her teachers and counselors who provided information about such scholarship opportunities. She
cited Mr. Joseph Nigh of East High School who told her about such scholarships, and was grateful to him for helping her fill out application forms. “For the
Business Forum, I thought that it didn’t apply to me because it was on business,” Choying recalled and shared how she answered during the interview. “They
only asked what I’m majoring in and how that will affect people. Businesswomen were sponsoring the scholarship money, so I told them that I wanted to build a
hospital.” That answer, strengthened by her reasons for it, probably helped her get the scholarship.
This early, Choying has already taken the first steps to reach her dream. “I will be a nurse,” she said confidently. “And I am thankful I am here to better myself
first through education. But Tibetan healing is part of me as well, so even if I studied Western medicine, when I go back to India, maybe I will combine those
two forms of treatment to heal people.”
Choying concluded, “There is something that each culture — Tibetan or American — lacks ... a combination of their best practices could be most helpful to
our people, I think.”
Chinese might suspect they were actually running away. She later fled along with other friends.”
As refugees with absolutely no property in India, Choying grew up in poverty. “We didn’t have anything,” Choying recalled. “My mom made rugs and
blankets, and then would go to cities with my brother to sell them.” They were quite fortunate, however, when her father was chosen as one of the 1,000 to come
to the U.S. “So, he worked ‘overseas’ and sent us money. Because of that, my mom was able to send me, my sister, and brother, to school. He worked at a
hospital here in housekeeping. I don’t remember seeing him while I was growing up because he was already in the U.S. The first time I saw him was when I was
seven or eight, when he came home to visit.”
The family was reunited in 1999 when Choying father’s petition for family reunification was approved. “We came here through France and Chicago, and we
had a fan-like board that read, ‘We Don’t Understand English; Help Us.’” Her brother, however, was left behind in India to take care of his grandparents. “They
needed at least one of us to help them with food and other necessities. My grandparents had passed away; but my brother is still there. His work provides him with
a house; but he is alone. It’s hard for him to come here. We also filed a petition for his immigration but it takes a long time. He’s now 33 years old.”
Choying recalled her excitement when she first landed in the U.S. “Everything here was clean and buildings were very tall,” Choying said, comparing her
new experience with what she had seen while growing up in Dharamsala. “The roads in India were one-way. We didn’t have speed limits there; we didn’t have
cable; and in the morning we had to go get water and heat it ourselves. And there were monkeys around.”
Despite the hardships they had to endure in India, Choying felt it was all right as long as the family was together. She then talked of her ‘fortune’ of being in
the U.S., particularly the opportunity to get a higher education. “Through education, I could better myself and create a better future for my family and my future
generation,” she said. Her mother also works as a housekeeper, just like her father.
Going to American schools, however, was a hurdle for Choying, as she couldn’t relate to other students’ behavior in school. She talked of students who
disrespected other students and teachers, something that was not allowed in India. “It’s really different in India; you’re not supposed to talk back to your teacher
and if you don’t do your homework or you are disrespectful, the teacher can beat or hit you,” Choying said. “I guess it depends on how you’re brought up, and
maybe some American students are not taught to do that, or their parents are too busy to discipline them; that’s why they’re disrespectful to their teachers and
classmates.”
To survive the school environment, Choying concentrated on her school work and other positive activities. “I’m active in student organizations and saw to it
that I don’t get in trouble,” she said. “Every Saturday, I attend a Tibetan School located in a church on the west side. We have classes in history, reading and
dancing. We are also taught the Tibetan language to keep the culture alive.”
Choying has kept her Buddhist practices alive with the help of her uncle, a Tibetan Buddhist monk who lives in Alabama. He regularly sends her prayer books.
“He‘s the only Tibetan monk there; he wanted to go to a place where no one knows about Buddhism and he wanted to spread the knowledge about our culture,”
she proudly said of her uncle. “He has his own Buddhism class on Tuesdays in which he teaches about peace. He sends me books on Buddhism and how to be a
Tibetan person. My parents are too busy with work and I don’t want to bother them.”
Choying dreams of becoming a nurse and going back to India. Her dream was shaped by her family’s past, and she wants to make hers and other Tibetans’ lives
much better. “When my grandmother became ill in India, our family didn’t have money,” Choying recalled with sorrow. “We couldn’t afford a doctor or buy her
medication. All we did was to make her as comfortable as possible: warm her, give her food, but she passed away. So I want to go back to India and help those
who don’t have money to afford medical attention. I’d like to help them without any cost, if they don’t have money. And if I’m successful, I’d like to create a
hospital for them.”
In order to pursue her dream, however, Choying is focusing on completing a college education first. She is now a student at Edgewood College with the
help of a number of scholarships that she won while a senior at East High. “I got a Founder’s Scholarship from Edgewood College,” she said, adding that she also
received two other scholarships, including one from the Business Forum (one-year scholarship in the amount of $2,000); the total of all her scholarships was
$17,000 (for four years).
Choying was shy to credit her scholastic record as the sole reason for being rewarded such scholarships. She said it was her teachers and counselors who
“pushed” her to do her best in school and dream big. It was also her teachers and counselors who provided information about such scholarship opportunities. She
cited Mr. Joseph Nigh of East High School who told her about such scholarships, and was grateful to him for helping her fill out application forms. “For the
Business Forum, I thought that it didn’t apply to me because it was on business,” Choying recalled and shared how she answered during the interview. “They
only asked what I’m majoring in and how that will affect people. Businesswomen were sponsoring the scholarship money, so I told them that I wanted to build a
hospital.” That answer, strengthened by her reasons for it, probably helped her get the scholarship.
This early, Choying has already taken the first steps to reach her dream. “I will be a nurse,” she said confidently. “And I am thankful I am here to better myself
first through education. But Tibetan healing is part of me as well, so even if I studied Western medicine, when I go back to India, maybe I will combine those
two forms of treatment to heal people.”
Choying concluded, “There is something that each culture — Tibetan or American — lacks ... a combination of their best practices could be most helpful to
our people, I think.”
By Heidi M. Pascual
Stories of Tibetans in America are aplenty, such as
those about folks who followed the route of the Dalai
Lama when he escaped from Tibet to India in 1959
after China’s invasion of Lhasa. As the world knows,
self-exiled Tibetans now live in parts of India, Bhutan,
Sikkim and Nepal. Dharamsala, India, is the Dalai Lama’
s seat of government. In 1989, the United States
allowed the entry of 1,000 Tibetan immigrants, through
the Tibetan United States Resettlement Project, and
between 1993 to 2002, family members of these
original 1,000 arrived.
Tenzin Choying, a graduate of East High School,
was born in India in 1989 to parents who were among
those who fled to India in the ‘50s. “My parents
travelled separately; they met later in India,” Choying
said. “According to my father, he escaped with his
Stories of Tibetans in America are aplenty, such as
those about folks who followed the route of the Dalai
Lama when he escaped from Tibet to India in 1959
after China’s invasion of Lhasa. As the world knows,
self-exiled Tibetans now live in parts of India, Bhutan,
Sikkim and Nepal. Dharamsala, India, is the Dalai Lama’
s seat of government. In 1989, the United States
allowed the entry of 1,000 Tibetan immigrants, through
the Tibetan United States Resettlement Project, and
between 1993 to 2002, family members of these
original 1,000 arrived.
Tenzin Choying, a graduate of East High School,
was born in India in 1989 to parents who were among
those who fled to India in the ‘50s. “My parents
travelled separately; they met later in India,” Choying
said. “According to my father, he escaped with his
(Left) Tenzin Choying in front of East High School; (Above)
with her parents and sister in their home’s yard.
with her parents and sister in their home’s yard.