‘Grateful to be in this country’: Fourth of July special to Hopewell woman

Jul. 4--HOPEWELL TWP. -- Savin Sun will gather with family Thursday to celebrate the Fourth of July like most Americans -- enjoying a barbecue, fireworks "and being thankful for the people that laid down their lives to give us the freedom that we have."

The Hopewell Township woman doesn't take freedom for granted.

"I'm grateful to be in this country," she said, "to be able to experience things that I know, back home if I was there, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Sun, 36, was born in a refugee camp in Thailand.

Her Cambodian parents lived in a village outside Battambang, the capital city of Battambang province in northwestern Cambodia. They crossed the border into Thailand in the early '80s to escape genocide wrought by the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot.

From 1975 to 1979, between 1.5 million and 3 million people were killed by the communist political group that ruled the country following the Cambodian civil war, according to the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota.

The regime, wanting to create a classless, agrarian society, forced city residents to work as farmers; persecuted religious and ethnic minorities; separated families; and targeted intellectuals -- teachers, lawyers, doctors and clergy -- the center said.

Many died from disease and starvation.

Sun's father, Thoeun Sun, was a police officer; her mother, Savoeun Keo, was a homemaker and baker and sold her desserts at farmers markets.

"When the genocide happened, they were able to get from the countryside to Thailand, which is where the refugee camps were," Sun said, taking with them their son and daughter.

Sun, the third of four children, and another brother were yet to be born.

The United Nations Human Rights Council estimates Thailand hosted more than 1 million refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam -- people escaping political repression, torture and war -- since the mid-1970s.

"My mom doesn't talk about it a lot 'cause I guess it stirs up a lot of memories for her," said Sun.

"My sister, at the time, she was about 12 or 13, so she talks about it every now and then -- how they had to walk in the woods. ... She would just remember hiding and trying to be quiet."

The Khmer Rouge "didn't want people who knew how to read, knew how to write -- things like that," Sun said.

"When I read more about the history -- because I was not in it by any means -- they just didn't want anyone that could question what they were trying to build. You had to fake like you didn't know how to think for yourself. You just had to go with the flow."

Born in 1983, Sun said she doesn't remember much about refugee camp life, other than what her parents and older siblings have said, and "they don't talk about it much."

They lived in man-made huts. Women took care of the household; men farmed. They washed in nearby rivers and streams.

The family lived in the camp about two years, Sun said.

In 1985, they came to the United States, with the help of missionaries.

"My parents said they came to give me a better life -- a chance at education and something better," Sun said.

They settled first in Utica, N.Y.

"We didn't stay there long," Sun said. "My sister said there wasn't a predominantly Asian culture. It was mostly Americans. I guess they kept in contact with some of the people that lived in the same villages. Somehow my mom found out there was a group of Cambodians in Philadelphia, so that's when we relocated from New York to Philadelphia."

At home, Sun's parents didn't speak English.

"When I started school, it was just me trying to learn the language," she said, with the help of English as a Second Language Program.

"It was difficult at first," she said, but eventually she mastered the language and was able to translate for her parents, who learned enough to carry on some conversation. They were employed as migrant farm workers "because that's what they knew back home," Sun said.

She graduated from Kennett High School, part of Kennett Consolidated School District in Kennett Square, Pa.

Sun got a job as a certified nursing assistant at a nursing home in Kennett Square. That's when she realized she was drawn to taking care of people.

Sun would enroll at Center for Arts and Technology--Brandywine Campus in Coatesville, Pa., and graduate as a licensed practical nurse.

Around 2012, she met Sean Croner. A Hopewell native, he worked for insurance company Aflac Inc. in Philadelphia.

Friends first, they started dating.

Her daughter, Maya Richburg, now 11, was about to start school.

Croner, she said, "wanted a long-term relationship. He didn't want her to start school somewhere and uproot her. I decided to move here to be with him."

'Be all you can be'

Held up in traffic, Sun calls to say she is running late for an interview. Hers is an ambitious and whirlwind schedule, most days filled with college classes, clinical practicals at hospitals, full-time job, and mom to daughter, Maya, and son, Bryce Croner, 5.

It's 1:30 p.m. when she arrives at Rochester Manor + Villa, which offers rehabilitation, skilled nursing and personal care. Sun, manager of its 60-bed, short-term care unit, oversees the certified nursing assistant team, hospitality aides and unit secretaries, and assists with patient-care plans and regulatory compliance.

Her boss, Kristin Goldstrom Oeder, executive director, said Sun is an "excellent nurse who is always willing to go the extra mile for her residents, families and team. She is also very ambitious and tackles any project, training or position with enthusiasm."

This morning, Sun sat in classes at LaRoche University in McCandless Township -- classes she will complete next year to become a registered nurse.

Sun was hired at Rochester Manor in 2014 as a charge nurse, working under the direction of registered nurses, and within a year moved up to licensed practical nurse concierge. She called it a "middle man" position -- a liaison with patients, families, outside care providers and facility team members. She made appointments, scheduled transportation and helped with patient admissions.

Soon thereafter, Sun was promoted to licensed practical nurse assessment coordinator and handled the facility's compliance with state and federal billing requirements.

Last year, once again, she advanced to unit manager.

"It's all about balance," Sun said, and a management team at Rochester Manor that encourages and accommodates continued education.

"They stuck by me through a lot with my class scheduling," Sun said, telling her "we will work with you."

Rochester Manor's care approach is "person centered," said Mark Miner, the facility's public relations adviser. "The whole culture of how they treat employees is very much the same," he said.

Oeder agreed that the facility promotes continuing education and work-life balance. Sun, she said, is a "very inspiring" example.

"I like my team," Sun said. "We all stick together. I like the patients I come across. Not one patient is the same. Everyone has a different story. That's what stands out for me. It's just getting to know people, hearing where they come from. I guess it keeps me humble."

One of the most uplifting parts of her job is "seeing people come in and how far they advance when they leave," Sun said.

She has no plans to leave Rochester Manor once she gets her nursing degree.

"Rochester Manor is like a second home to me," she said. "I don't have plans to leave. I want to advance my career to be a better asset to the company."

Her life can get hectic, she said, but "I kind of tell myself when I'm wearing a certain hat, that's the hat to focus on," whether it's nurse, mother or student.

Last year, Sun took the Oath of Allegiance in Pittsburgh, administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to become a naturalized citizen.

"I just felt like it was the right time," she said. "I feel like the American dream is just life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that's what I've been doing my whole life. My kids are citizens, my boyfriend's a citizen. It was just time for me to be the same."

Sun said she hasn't abandoned her Cambodian culture, but "this is what I call home now."

She said she looks at her situation in two ways.

"If I would have stayed home (in Cambodia) or if my parents didn't make it here, I would have been dead or I would have no education, and that's something I've worked toward my whole life is to be educated. And that's what my parents have always said: 'You guys have to take advantage of education.' Here, it's free. People don't kill you, because you have it. You don't have to be afraid, and no one's ever going to be able to take it away from you."

Being an American, Sun said, "truly means trying to be all you can be. That's what makes me want to continue my education and grow to be the best I can be. I want to be a good role model for my children and make a difference in people's lives."

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