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After Escaping Laos, He Kept To Ambition
May 31, 2007
By DANIELA ALTIMARI, Courant Staff Writer  MIDDLETOWN -- Souriya Sisomphou dropped out of high school nearly 20 years ago. From time to time, he thought about going back, but the demands of work and family made it impossible.

"I was too busy," he said.

But this is a man who had escaped from war-torn Laos and made his way to a refugee camp in Thailand - alone - at age 11. He wasn't one to give up.

Sisomphou eventually returned to school, first as an English as a second language student, then in an independent study program for adults.

At age 36, he will walk across the stage at Middletown High School and collect his diploma. Sisomphou, a student in Middletown Adult Education's external diploma program, is one of 140 people who will graduate tonight.

Like many of his classmates, his journey to graduation night was a circuitous one. After slipping across the border from Laos into Thailand, he was reunited with his parents in the refugee camp. The family, which included Sisomphou's eight brothers and sisters, came to the U.S. with the help of a church group that assisted refugees from Southeast Asia and settled in Minnesota.

Sisomphou attended three high schools before moving with his brother to Virginia. He tried to enroll in school there, but at 18, he was told he was too old. He came to Connecticut in 1989, married a woman from Cambodia and had two children.

But graduating from high school remained his goal. He started taking ESL classes in 1995, after his son was born. A few years later, he enrolled in adult education's basic skills program, which provides classes in reading, writing and math.

Sisomphou's teachers praised his enthusiasm and his endless capacity for hard work. Despite holding down a full-time job at a Durham factory - he often worked second or third shift - he always managed to complete his schoolwork.

"He would work until 3 o'clock in the morning, go home, have two or three hours' sleep, take one of his children to school, then come here," said Sheila Farrell, a teacher in the external diploma program. "I don't think he missed a day."

"He's very enthusiastic," added Sharon Muldowney, lead teacher for the basic education, GED and external diploma programs. "He comes in with a smile all the time."

Dressed in a bright red polo shirt, his hair cut fashionably spiky, Sisomphou said he would like to attend community college and train to become an X-ray technician.

He has also become an ambassador of sorts for the adult education program. "He thought the program was so great, he got his brother-in-law to enroll," Farrell said.

Contact Daniela Altimari at daniela.altimari@courant.com.
 

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