Descent X Kids of Immigrants: WHY?

When I arrived at USC, I quickly realized that many people my age weren’t aware of the ethnic diversity that exists across the different areas of the U.S. I almost always get some sort of surprised or confused reaction when I tell someone I’m meeting for the first time where I’m from. I’ve been asked all sorts of different questions. 

“Wait, what? Minnesota? Where even is that? Aren’t there a lot of white people there?”

I understand if someone who isn’t from the Midwest doesn’t know much about the region’s demographics, as many of the stereotypes about the area are accurate, but there is one question that I still feel confused yet frustrated by.

“Why?”

I didn’t even answer this question when the person I had just met asked me this. I wasn’t sure where to start. How could I have chosen where I was from? I wish I had told the person that sometimes, when you make the choice to start over again in a foreign country, you don’t get to choose where you end up. But it got me thinking: what were some of the underlying reasons why my parents came to Minnesota and ultimately decided to stay here? They could have returned to Asia a long time ago. What pushed them to leave in the first place? What did they leave behind? And, most importantly, how could I recognize their journey while forming my own understanding of sacrifice and perseverance as a child of immigrants?