Thi Bui: Hi, my name is Thi Bui. It's pronounced tea like the drink and buoy like the thing that floats on water. That's usually what I tell people. It is the way that I say my name in the US, in the English-speaking world. The name that was given to me is Vietnamese, and the way that you would say it in Vietnam is Bùi Phương Thi. The family name first, then my middle name, then my first name. My middle and first name, Phương Thi, together mean a beautiful poem, which is very romantic and beautiful and my parents spent a long time figuring out each of our names, though my mom is a little bit sad that I don't use it. But, it's just a little bit hard for people to pronounce, I found, growing up here.

And so, I've changed it to something that actually suits my personality a little bit more. It's very short. But it is kind of strange having two different names. It's a little bit like wearing your pants backwards. I try to encourage people to do a little experiment where you take the way that you normally say your name and flip it and see how it feels. And then maybe it feels a little bit jarring, and maybe it feels a little bit freeing. That might give you a little sense of what it's like for people who have changed their names because of the process of immigration.