Kevin.

        These days I just go by Kevin; no cool nickname or title and I am perfectly fine with that. My full name is Kevin Hung Truong and it derives from Vietnam and the USA. My parents thought I would have an easier life in America with a name like all the other kids, but they also wanted to stick to their roots. I like how they decided to choose my name and I plan to do the same for my children one day. I was not named after anyone and I am the only person named Kevin in my family. When I was younger I used to think that my Vietnamese name, Hung, meant Kevin. I then realized that Kevin means nothing more than Kevin, a name, and so that idea probably applied to Hung as well. Within my family, only the older relatives that only spoke Vietnamese knew me as Hung and to the rest of the world, I was known as Kevin.

        Back in elementary school, I told my friends my Vietnamese name and they got a good laugh off because it sounded funny to them. I told them, they laughed and said, "Really? What was it again?" and more laughter followed. It was the first time I felt ashamed for having my name. I was being ridiculed for something I had no control over and should not have any reason to feel bad for in the first place. For that reason, from elementary school to freshman year of high school, I did not tell anyone my Vietnamese name and if they asked I would casually change the subject. It took me awhile to grow up and realize that I have nothing to be embarrassed of. I finally realized that if I believed that my name was funny then other people would think that my name was funny too.So I decided to just change my mindset and just told it to people if they were curious to know without having a hushed tone and my eyes staring at the ground. I felt more confident in myself. It seems like a small achievement, but it was an important moment in my life because I believe it was a stepping stone to me becoming more mature.

         As far as my knowledge goes, Kevin Hung Truong does not give me any clues about my heritage. I tried to do some research on Ancestry.com, but I had to give credit information that I did not have and so that ended my campaign to find my family history. When I was in high school I was asked if I had a chance to change my name, what it would be. I answered that I would not change anything about my name because there is no reason for change. If it is not broken, do not fix it. I learned a lot from my name about just being myself and not being affected by what other people say or do to put me down.