Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y., Michele DeLuca column
He is also a parking valet at the
When we met, I was doing a story about businesses in the LaSalle region, particularly those that are owned by residents in the Falls neighborhood.
I was going to the various shops to meet some local business owners when I stopped in at the
The owner wasn't there so I left a message for him to call me.
When he did, I was struck by his story.
His name is Xiaoning, pronounced "Shawning," but he also goes by Albert because he worries people won't be able to pronounce his name. For my purposes here, let's just call him Albert.
Albert was born on mainland
"People don't know I'm 65," he told me proudly. "I'm full of energy."
I can vouch for that.
He told me his parents were both members of the
Everyone was supposed to be equal in the revolution and Albert was sent to a farm where he was forced to dig holes and tunnels, working in the hot sun and living like a peasant, going hungry many days. It was pretty miserable.
It's no wonder that when he finally got a chance to improve his life, he went at it with remarkable enthusiasm.
Eventually, he obtained a two-year associate's degree in
Eventually, he followed a dream and came to America, first to
He took a job as a parking valet at the
"I said,'OK, now it's time for me to go to school to study,'" he told me.
Albert signed up to attend
"I worked hard," he told me from his small office. "I studied hard."
He's particularly proud that he obtained a top grade in his public speaking class. His presentation was about how he believes that
He went on to receive his bachelor's degree in accounting from
He did well enough to open his own Farmer's Insurance agency on
"In this job, you only earn a commission," he explained.
"The first step is very difficult," he added, but noted that for those who work hard, there is no limit. "The ocean and the sky will open up to you."
Albert doesn't take his success for granted. He continues to work full-time at the casino, parking cars. His boss,
"He's a hard worker," Senese told me with admiration in his voice.
"I work two jobs because that gives me a kind of balance," Albert said. "Here, I use my mind. There, I exercise and walk to rest my mind."
Besides that, once you've been a hungry peasant teenager digging trenches and holes in the hot sun, not much seems too hard, according to Albert.
Plus, there's a few bonuses to parking cars.
"I can drive all kinds of cars and meet all kinds of people," he said, smiling.
Albert's insurance business is growing, he says. It is fortified by Chinese-speaking clients in
"I help them when they report an accident," he said. "In this way, I have a chance to bring them an education."
In this day and age, when there are so many conversations about immigrants, I thought it would be of interest to share a bit Xiaoning's success story.
Xiaoning Zhang impressed me. He made me wonder how many people might consider such a humble job like parking cars as fuel for their own eventual success.
And yet, that kind of dedication to achievement continues to be the essence of most American dreams.
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