Meet May Lor Xiong
I was born in Ban Vinai, a refugee camp, in Thailand.
My family came to America in September of 1987. I hardly remembered my first two years in the States. I was paralyzed in a state of survival and culture shock. However, I clearly remembered the evening when my uncle and waves of relatives came to welcome us at the airport. As they drove us home, the street lights and traffic lights glimmered everywhere. As my hands rested on the window, as if I were reaching for the lights, I thought to myself, “This has to be heaven. Stars are everywhere and so close in reach!”
Growing up with parents that were illiterate in English, they always encouraged us to stay in school. “Education is the key to success,” they would lecture. When my grandfather died during the war, my mother and her siblings were left orphaned. It was now her responsibility to take care of them. Although my mother’s duties were to watch over her siblings, her opportunity for education was slim. Back then it was almost impossible for girls to attend school. My parents preached the importance of education, due to their lack of it, so we could be anything we wanted. “Everything can be taken away, but not the knowledge that we possess” my father would always say.
Right after high school, I worked as a teacher assistant at East Consolidated Elementary in St. Paul. From there, I became an interpreter and advocate for Hmong families. While working with many multilingual students and parents, I decided that I wanted to become an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. I obtained my baccalaureate degree from Concordia University, St. Paul, majoring in K-12 ESL. Following my bachelor’s degree, I received my Masters in Educational Leadership also from Concordia University, St. Paul. During my years in school, I worked full time along with being a full-time single mother of four. My strong work ethic has been the only option. I know what it takes to get things done, and do it well. If I set my mind to something, I can achieve it.
I am now a real estate broker. I love helping families achieve the American dream of becoming homeowners so their children have a place they can call home. Growing up, I never had a bedroom to call my own. Our first few years in America, my family squeezed in with my uncle and his family in their tiny apartment. It was crowded, but we managed to make it work. Later, we moved into public housing in North Minneapolis. The floor tiles were as cold as the Minnesota winter snow. We couldn’t afford to buy rugs either, so my feet were always freezing.
With my experience, I am sensitive to the needs of space for family and children. I understand how much home instability can affect children. I know well, because as a teacher, I’ve seen with my own eyes. If every child can live in a permanent home, how great that would be!