Ernestine Cowalton was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, but now is living in Virginia, USA. She came to the United States after she had finished her high school and got a high school diploma in Vietnam. She had lived under the ruling of the communist regime in Vietnam for six years before she came to refuge in America. The bad effects of Vietnam War and of the brutal controlling of the Northern Communists were the reasons why she chose to leave Vietnam. Her life had great changes after she had settled in America, with opportunities to go to more schools and to have jobs to earn her livings.