Ocean Vuong
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
And if I went home, my mom would say, sit on down.
I save you a seat at the nail salon.
Pick up the filer.
Let's get to work.
But I didn't do that because I was too ashamed to go to her and say, I failed you.
I'm the only one that knows English.
I'm the only one that can read.
I'm the only one that could potentially have a college degree.
And I'm going to come back empty-handed.
I could not live with myself.
So I stayed in the city.
I stayed in Penn Station for two weeks trying to figure things out.
Meaning you actually slept in Penn Station.
Penn Station, yeah.
Right under Massacre Garden.
It was the warmest place.
But Penn Station is open 24 hours.
And you can stay near the Long Island Railroad.
And, you know, eventually I became a student at Brooklyn College.
And I pursued a degree in literature.