Dear Andrew,

I am writing to you because I recently read your Letter to an Iraqi exile and was amazed by your writing and advice. I feel that you wrote something that can echo throughout the county. You are proof of what America truly resembles. You came into America hurt and confused, yet did not fight against what we have to offer but embraced it. You looked towards the opportunities through your hurt, and used your emotions for good rather than fueling hatred. I feel your letter was real; it was not biased or aggressive. You considered all points and spoke about learning to live with what you are given. The United States is not perfect and has many flaws, but nothing is perfect and that is what makes it beautiful.

I hope Americans and the new refugees open up and accept each other. Hopefully the refugees coming from Iraq can learn from your letter and take in their new home. My favorite piece of advice from this letter was to not forget the country and culture you came from. All people in America have an ancestry. We all came from some other country, whether Europe or Asia, and our ancestors went through a struggle to come to the land of opportunity. I feel the refugees today are starting a new path for their future generations. We are all somehow connected in that sense. I also hope, as you suggested, that they put your final piece of advice to use, to tell their story. Our stories, our hopes, and our dreams, together make up us: the United States. I am admired by your drive and charisma and wish you the best of luck in the future.
Thank You,
Alli Tipton
Pittsburgh, Pa

Dear Andrew,
When I began to read your letter, I thought immediately that it was not meant for me. I have never known the pain of leaving behind my home; I have never known war in the visceral and real way you have; I have never known the experience of adjusting to a completely different culture. I can barely begin to imagine the circumstances both you and the subject of your letter experienced. Relief, guilt, confusion, and sadness are all emotions with which I am familiar, but I have never experienced them in the way you have. I felt like an intruder, reading a letter which was not addressed to me.

As I read more, however, I realized that most of your letter can be applied to any and every American, whether a newly-arrived refugee or a sheltered, native teen or anyone else. The advice you give would be especially helpful to a new arrival to this country, but is also something which every citizen of these states should consider. What struck me the most was exactly how true it was. Our country is a beautiful place, an egotistical place, an oft-criticized place, a contradictory place, and an entirely unique place. I would like to thank you for provoking me to think about it, both as the United States and as America, and for reminding me why I love it so much. Sincerely,
Stephanie Guerdan

Dear Andrew Lam,
I am going to take the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Amanda Jaber and I am a high school senior at a small Catholic school in Pennsylvania. I am also, at the same time, a first generation Palestinian girl who found it quite easy to relate to your Letter to an Iraqi Exile. Now although I am not an exile or refugee, I clearly saw and understood the advice you gave in your letter, and it is in mine that I commend you for an exceptionally written work, full of insight, truth, and guidance. As I read, I began to realize that with every paragraph you give hope to someone who is surely terrified about coming to a new land, troubled by what he has left behind, and is now in the same shoes that you wore years ago when you came as a refugee from Vietnam. I can only hope that he will somehow get the opportunity to read this letter, because I am sure, that even though you two have never met, he would take great comfort in the words you have written to him.

The things you speak about in your letter are such truths, that although we claim to already know them, to hear them with such objectiveness and “wise” insight (seeing as how you know from experience) make their impact that much more forceful. For example, “You will soon learn that in the land of plenty, there’s plenty of irony.” That single line instantly made me think- it made me stop, reread it and repeat it- twice, and with thought, the reality of that statement was overwhelming. “The country that boasts, give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free, turns its back on those whose misfortunes are the direct result of its own actions.” There are people in this country who are starving and homeless. In the most prosperous and wealthy country on this planet, there are way too many people who have nothing to feed their children or nowhere to sleep at night. You can’t tell me this is how it has to be. While I was thinking, I realized that English is your second language. The majority of people who have spoken English their whole life would probably fail to write something not only as great in content, but something with such skill and tact in manipulating their first language into such a great work as you have done with your second.

I can’t exactly pinpoint one thing that makes this letter so appealing but your style is so powerful to me. The structure, with the breaks and pieces of the advice all separated, and the simple sentences that go on to list numerous things that relate to what you are saying, has an extremely big effect on the way this essay is taken. If it was all just written out in a regular letter, much like the one I am writing to you, it would still be good because of its content, but it would not be great because the things that make it hit you (the separations between thoughts and parallelisms that give the work its impact) are gone.

“America tolerates difference, understands diversity, and assumes you are innocent before proven guilty. America allows you to practice your religion, protects your privacy, and encourages you to dream. It is a place where you can disagree with your neighbors, politicians, even your government, without fearing violence or arrest.” We all claim to already know these things, but it is not until they are read in this form that we are forced to pause and think about them, take a step back and realize the truth that they really do carry- and all of this comes from the way they are written.

I could honestly go on for pages about your letter which is, ironically, a single page, but I will spare you the excess of verbiage. I just want to let you know that even if the Iraqi exile this letter was intended for never gets to read it, it has left an indelible mark on a first generation Palestinian girl from a Catholic school in Pennsylvania. Thank you for your insight.