Loung Ung was hosted by Asian Society and South Asian Society in Kem- per Auditiorium to present on her memoir
Loung Ung, activist and author of “First They Killed My Father,” a memoir about her experience growing up through the Cambodian War, spoke at an event last Friday hosted by Asian Society and South Asian Society. In her current professional life, Ung works to help her home country heal and strive towards a better future, advocating for human rights issues through campaigns and lectures.
In the event, Ung described her story as both a daughter of Cambodia and a refugee to the United States. Piecing together reflections of her traumatic childhood with memories of the dizzying novelty of America, Ung explains how war continues to influence her life and world outlook.
“Little by little, I worked, and I learned, and I went to school, and I went to math classes, and I studied geometry, and I studied English. And, all the while, the war would not leave me because wars do not end because guns have fallen silent. Wars do not end because we need it. Wars do not end because presidents declared it so. Wars do not end because you moved and left the country. Wars continue to live in your heart, in your mind, and for me, wars continue to haunt me,” said Ung.
As a Co-Head of South Asian Society and board member of Asian Society, Magdalena Mercado ’26 worked closely with Aya Murata to bring Ung to campus. For Mercado, Ung’s words reminded her of how fortunate she is to be living in the U.S., where democracy and individual liberties are valued and protected in ways that are unimaginable in many other countries.
“[Ung] said that, in Cambodia, they didn’t really have a choice for anything, especially what they were doing, and they couldn’t really protest. She was talking about how lucky Americans are to be able to have some sort of democracy because, in Cambodia, they weren’t allowed to protest or fight back, they just had to be quiet. So, it kind of gave me a lot of insight on where I stand, especially being in the United States where we have a lot more privileges than other countries. That was one big thing that impacted me and just gave me a very big outlook on how lucky I am,” noted Mercado.
After reading Ung’s book, “First They Killed My Father,” in their English 300 classes, many Uppers were touched by Ung’s story and felt compelled to attend Ung’s speaker event on campus. One of these students, Giuliana Cardinale ’25, shared how listening to Ung’s talk not only enhanced her understanding of the memoir but allowed her to see the full extent of Ung’s inspiration and impact.
“[Ung] wrote [her book] as an adult from her perspective as a seven-year-old girl and the couple years under the Khmer Rouge, which is the communist regime. She went through such unimaginable pain… and I couldn’t believe that she had gone through something so traumatic and then decided to write about it … I had never read much about the Cambodian genocide before, and it was just an interesting insight… In-person, [Ung] talked about it, but I got to see more of how she’s been living her life now in America because the book didn’t really really touch on it. She seems like such an optimistic, hopeful person, and it was really incredible to see someone who had gone through so much still have hope and be a really good person,” said Cardinale.
Following the speaker event, Ung shared that the key message she wanted to convey through her talk was the importance of taking action. She hopes her words will resonate with students and prompt them to consider ways in which they can enact change in their local communities and the larger society. To Ung, the only way humanity can win the fight for peace and a brighter future is if everyone takes an active role in making the world a better place.
“I feel at Andover, what I have to share isn’t anything new, but I hope I said it to [students] in a way that it will stay with them longer and clearer. And it is this: peace is not an automatic, peace is not a wish that we wish up on the stars and we hope it’s granted. Peace is not something we wait for our leaders, whether they’re politicians or school leaders or instructors, to deliver. Peace is not something we go to sleep at night and think, ‘Oh, tomorrow I’m gonna wake up to a new day.’ No, peace is not a wish, peace is not something to be granted. Peace is an action, or rather many, many, many actions. Peace requires us to act and us to be committed and to strategize and to think about and to choose on a daily basis, and it could be a very small act of peace,” said Ung.
