Personal Narrative: A Vietnamese Experience

I was in seventh grade and all I wanted to do was have a good time. I had a friend named Angela who stuck by my side like gum. We went everywhere with each other and we always helped each other in times of need. One day, Angela called me saying her youth group needed an extra dancer for their performance at the annual Vietnamese new year celebration. Of course, I told her to sign me up right away. The first day of dance practice was strange. Growing up in a Buddhist environment, I had never been to a catholic church before. The minute I walked in the room, everyone stared at me. Several people came up to me asking me what my name was and which church I went to. When I told them that I was Buddhist and was there just to help out for the performance,
I had made so many new friends and was eventually asked to join their youth group. Not knowing what that meant, I said yes. The youth group did various activities such as playing sports, participating in Christ-like volunteer opportunities and camping nights at the church. The coordinators had bought me an official uniform. I then looked forward to every Sunday’s youth group activities, all I had to do was sit through the boring priest talk in the morning. Eventually, Angela’s parents had asked me why I kept coming to church and if I wanted to become Catholic. They said they could talk my parents into letting me convert and continuously asked me these types of questions every week. Other adults in the church continued to actively try to convert me and I nonchalantly said went along with it. All I wanted to do was have fun, help the community and make new friends. If that’s what being Catholic meant, then I was all in! The following week, I was told to go talk to the priest after mass. He sat down in front of me and kindly asked me questions about myself. After that, he asked me, “Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the true Messiah? Do you have faith in the Holy Trinity -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? How about the Virgin Mary and transubstantiation?” My eyes widened as I thought to myself, “Holy
It was after this incident when I finally started to think about the esoteric aspects of myself. I started to wonder, “What should I be? What is my purpose in life and why am I here?” I was simply existing. I woke up, went to school, studied, slept, and repeated. I began reading up on different religions in order to find the right one for me. From Hinduism to Christianity, there was an infinite amount of fascinating facts and great ways of life. But, none of those religions appealed to me. There was no proof of anything and I needed to see it in order believe it. I could not devote myself to a god who needed so much praising. I always found it somewhat funny that people fight wars over religion. Both sides fought for some god that they could not prove the existence of. I may not believe in God, but that does not mean I have any more proof than the next person does. The purpose of religion is to control yourself, not criticize others. I grew up with a Buddhist family yet I couldn’t live that way. Although Buddhism is claimed to be a way of life and not a religion, I still could not find myself living without things such as “selfish cravings.” I don’t believe cravings or being selfish is necessarily a bad thing. It’s always good to have a little of everything. Regardless of my parent’s beliefs, I knew I could not call myself a Buddhist. I thought something was wrong