MacKenzie-Thurley said he was introduced to Yoxthimer and her father by a local businessman, Bao Nguyen of Edward Jones.
“Bao was telling me this incredible story about how he (Dr. Bekah’s father) had commandeered a plane, and had flown families, including his own, out of Vietnam at the end of the war, and as I understand it, Dr. Bekah’s mother was pregnant with her. So, she was a baby coming across the ocean at that time,” MacKenzie-Thurley said.
“America — and I can say that as an immigrant — is held in such high esteem throughout the world as a place where you feel like you can do anything and achieve anything. It’s seen by immigrants as that place, and that land of opportunity, and certainly, Dr. Bekah and her family saw that, felt that, and have realized that, and it’s really amazing,” said MacKenzie-Thurley, who is from Australia.
“I was at one of the ‘Celebrating Self’ talks last year, realizing a lot of stories are very unique, based on the circle of people that bring the stories in. So, knowing, typically, a lot of stories aren’t being highlighted because someone just doesn’t know someone else in the community,” said Bao Nguyen, a financial advisor at Edward Jones. “For me, the fact that I was in the same group, and realizing that this is such an important part of storytelling and history that we don’t often get to capture.”
He said it was that sense of urgency that led him to bring up Yoxthimer’s story to the Fitton Center. Her story is about “a Vietnamese American, history, and the journey of how it happened here in the U.S.A.”
“So, I just asked, because for me, if we didn’t do that, I don’t think we’ll ever have different platforms and opportunities to highlight and share stories with each other,” Nguyen said.
He said Yoxthimer’s story resonates with him because she took the opportunity to do better, and she always pays it back.
“It’s powerful to highlight that, because for me, the community that we live in is ever-changing. So, I think Dr. Bekah and her family are just one example of that,” said Nguyen.
When Yoxthimer’s family first came to America, with no home, no food, and no money, they were housed by kind Americans, who drove her father to interviews, so that the family could be successful.
“I wanted to tell my story of living the American Dream about how my father commandeered a military plane, a C-130 from war-torn Vietnam to come to America but when they stepped foot on American soil, they had nothing but the clothes on their backs, and they brought only what they could carry, which was their two children. My mom just carried hope in her heart to live this beautiful life in America,” Yoxthimer said.
She won the International Speech Competition with the speech that she gave at the Fitton Center.
“It tells about my family’s story of their escape, and when they reached America, my mom was pregnant with me, and how we were really poor, low-income housing, and for Christmas, I would pick out a used toy from the church. It was the game Candyland, which was old and tattered, but I still play it with my kids to this day just to remind me how far I’ve come. Now, I’m a dentist, Dr. USA, a speech champion, and all these things. I’ve got my own volunteer group I started called ‘Strong Women Helping Others,’ and we pack food for homeless people under bridges in Cincinnati. We prepare weekend bags for children, and we do a lot of charity events, and what I’m doing, is it inspired me to pay it forward to the people who helped my family when they first came to America. So, now it’s my passion to give back.”
She said, “Success, and the American Dream, it’s great to have all these titles and accolades, but it’s ‘What do you do with it to give back to society?’ and to me, that is living the American Dream. It’s just paying it forward and helping people in need.”
More details
The Fitton Center shared more about Yoxthimer on its website at fittoncenter.org/post/american-dream-inspires.
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