Life Timeline

By linntoch
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    Linda Toch P05 Timeline

  • Trip to Cambodia

    The first time I ever stepped foot in my parents' homeland became my first clear memory. I finally met my family in Cambodia and found love and pride in my heritage and its culture. I also became exposed, at three years of age, to the hardships of a third world country, seeing heartbreaking poverty that I would later figure out in my life.

  • meeting the monk

    When I was ten, a woman visiting the temple came up to my parents and started talking trash about our family. She criticized my parents because they "raised me poorly." She called my sister perfect, but insulted me for about twenty minutes before I finally cried. I ran off to hide until a monk found me and talked to me. I took his words to heart when he told me to show kindness and tolerance no matter who the person is and no matter what they say towards me. This played a heavy role in my morals

  • won my first contest

    I won my first national contest for writing an essay. It was my first scholastic achievement that my parents were proud of

  • Got accepted into Oxford

    When I got my acceptance letter it was a huge deal for me, because I saw getting into Oxford as an opportunity to make my parents proud (even if it meant sealing six years of my life away into a torturous penitentiary notorious for sleep-deficient students)

  • First Visit to the Getty

    My family took a spontaneous trip to the Getty Museum on Sunday, because for the first in a long time, none of us were preoccupied. Coming to the museum to see its refinement in person reminded me of what was important in my life - my family and the arts. I fell in love with the environment there, its architecture, the nature gardens, the tram, the view, and, of course, the exhibits. The place itself is inspirational - and it's free admission.

  • Getty Performance

    This is my biggest accomplishment to date. Cambodian Fine Arts Heritage Relief Foundation was invited to perform two dances at the Getty Museum. Whereas most of my performances have predominantly Cambodian audiences, I was able to connect my culture with people of different races. It was the biggest honor and scariest thing I ever had to do to date.

  • First job

    Working with people with disabilities has always been a passion for me. Two of my favorite cousins are diagnosed with down syndrome and autism, respectively, and seeing how their peers treated them differently made me strive harder to dissipate the negative stigma of kids with disorders. I began working with children with various mental disabilities, specializing in autism and down syndrome. I worked hard to make sure these kids felt no different than anyone else and was eventually offered pay.