Sichan Siv was an American Ambassador to United Nations Economic and Social Council from 2001 to 2006. Before this, he worked at both the white house as well as the state department. What is inspiring about his life is that he is a survivor of what is known as the killing fields of Cambodia, a genocide that occurred in 1976. After this, he was able to build a life for himself, continuously rising through the ranks of society through hard work and dedication, and eventually becoming an ambassador for the United States. Through his struggles, he has been an advocate for hope, giving for the sake of others, even when he had nothing.
Siv was put into labor camps, working long hard days, and when he finally escaped, he spent his time teaching at a refugee camp before making his way to the United States. This shows his dedication to service towards others. It would be hard to do something such as this in his situation, as after going through such hardship it would be difficult to have faith in the idea of helping others. However, the events that he went through may have shown him that it is important to help others out, no matter how difficult circumstances in life become.
Once in the U.S. Siv worked to make a life for himself, going through various odd jobs until he was finally able to attend college. This shows his dedication to moving forward despite having lost everything. Although he had left everything behind, he was determined to rise once more, so that he could create a supportive life for himself and the family that he would have. In this way, he was able to work his way up from having nothing. Siv is very consistent throughout his life in what he considers to be important. Striving through hardship, and rising beyond his own problems to help others seems to be important to him.
It is good that he chose the career he did. It makes sense because of the hardships he endured. He survived a vicious massacre, and decided that he would devote his life to preventing this from happening again. This inspires me to look more closely at my own life. In an interview, when questioned about what he would tell his fellow Cambodians concerning their fundamental relationship with the U.S., Sichin Siv states“Believe in the fundamental principles of the United States, which was founded on the strong principle of freedom.” Sichin Siv, in the end, found a place he could call home due to the freedom that the U.S. offered, as well as the opportunity for him to try to create a better life for himself.
When looking at the decisions that Siv has made throughout his life in relation to my own, it becomes apparent that I have not strove to reach my potential anywhere near the level that he has. For him to have gone through as much as he did and still work hard to triumph makes me feel as though I could do so much more with the things that I have done. I have lived in the United States my whole life and have had my parents to help me, and still never went to a college as prestigious as the one he got into working his way through life.
Works Cited
Ha, Quan Mahn. Interview with Sichan Siv. Texas Tech Universtiy. Southeast Review of
Asian Studies Volume 31 (2009), pp. 207–18 2009. May 2014.
