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Toby is a 2004 BVU graduate from Clinton, Iowa. Her parents, Siha and Phone Malavong, were named BVU Parents of the Year in 2003.
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From Laos to BVU:
The Story of How My Parents’ Sacrifices Made Me a College Graduate
By Toby Malavong
I am the daughter of former rice farmers, hardworking immigrants from Laos. My father, an airborne military man for the American side during the Vietnam War era, was sent to a “re-education” forced prison labor camp when the communists took over. In 1984 he managed to escape, hiding out in remote villages and jungles until he found his way back home. My family and I fled Laos when I was seven, crossing the Mekong River under danger of
gunfire in a small wooden boat my grandfather carved, only to be
thrown in jail for 26 days upon reaching the other bank for illegally crossing into Thai territory.
After my family finally ended up in Iowa in 1987, my father picked up a job as a janitor and then worked at a slaughterhouse for a majority of my life. When he was laid off, I was torn between feeling thankful that I would no longer have to hug a smelly father at 3 p.m. each day (he smelled like dead cows) and anger at the company for letting go one of their hardest workers.
As soon as Dad got laid off, Mom started to look for a job. For so long she had stayed home and tried to make our two-bedroom rental house as homey as possible, cooking food that sent her back to her motherland. Her search landed her a temporary factory job packing dog and cat food (though she’s only 4’10” and one hundred pounds), and soon after Dad joined her at the same company.
Terrible jobs with terrible pay and disrespect from almost everyone they come in contact with are a few of the struggles my parents have had to deal with, but they never let those struggles take them down, instead turning them into valuable lessons of adversity, perseverance, culture, family, hope, love, and gratitude.
Because of their sacrifices, I always hoped that I would do something great with my life, and in order to get remotely close to achieving greatness,
I knew I had to attend college. But for a long time, I didn’t know exactly where I wanted to go. Buena Vista University was one of my top three picks, with the other two being a lot closer to home. Ultimately my decision was based on financial aid: BVU gave me more than my other two choices, including support from the Pell Grant, Iowa Tuition Grant, BVU Grant, Education Assistance Ltd. Scholarship, and Minority Incentive Scholarship.
When I arrived on campus, I spent the hours between classes working at Mail and Printing Services for work-study money, which helped a lot with the unexpected expenses. I became an English Education major and participated in student organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Teachers Inc., and the Asian American Pacific Islander Alliance. During my last semester, I did my student-teaching in eighth-grade reading and sophomore English. I hope to one day be Dr. Malavong and teach at the collegiate level, although I know money is a huge factor in obtaining my doctorate.
I am the daughter of people who have been laughed at because they couldn’t speak English or because they had black hair and looked different. But I am proud to call them my parents because they have done the best they can so that I could have a better life than them. Thanks to my parents’ sacrifices, along with donors’ scholarship support that enabled me to earn a BVU degree, I’m on my way to that better life. For a long time I didn’t know if I had made the right choice or not, especially with loan repayments looming over my head. But even with four years of being so far away from my beloved parents, I realized that BVU was where I was supposed to end up. All the help I’ve received has been greatly appreciated as I head into the next chapter of my life.
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