Jason Sea was born in Battambang, Cambodia, and came over to the states in 1982 with his family. Sea attended Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield and was active in several school sports; soccer, volleyball and wrestling.
As one could imagine, the cultural differences between Cambodia and America are far and large, not to mention the language barriers. Adjusting to the states was no easy feat for Sea.
“The first year we arrived in the states was a whole new world,” Sea said. “The changes in climate, from summer to fall, fall to winter. I don’t think we were prepared for the blizzard year in the 80s. We have one season in Cambodia, but we were able to prepare ourselves better moving forward since then.”
Sea believes learning English was among the hardest of barriers for him to hurdle over and that culturally, the difference between Virginia and back in Cambodia was like night and day. According to Sea, he struggled to feel welcomed and accepted by students at school due to his broken English. It didn’t help that he started school as a third-grader without prior English education.
“Learning a new language was hard, writing and speaking was no piece of cake,” Sea said, “There is no similarity at all to the Khmer language. In my opinion, English is the hardest language. One word can mean so many different things.”
Sea, like many others who have been in Richmond for a while, said that Richmond in the 80s and 90s was not quite as diverse as it is now, and that it took time and learning from each other’s different cultures for locals to come around. Things were difficult for a while.
“I experienced hardship — opportunities weren’t given to me — I had to prove myself,” Sea said. “But time has healed many painful memories. As the years would go by, my English got better, I got more diverse friends, and was involved in different social activities like youth retreats, churches and community activities.”
In 1993, Sea joined the US Marine Corps. He would end his time in the military as a Desert Shield/Persian Gulf and Operations Restore Hope Somalia Veteran in 1997. Sea believes his four years in the military heavily influenced his commitment to the country he had adopted as his own.
“Once I joined and served in the Marine Corps, there was no doubt that I belonged here and that it was my country too,” Sea said.
Sea has been happily married to his wife Cham-nan for 23 years and they have two children, Joshua and Katalina who are currently in college and 8th grade, respectively. Katalina has inherited some of Sea’s love for the sport of soccer and plays travel-team soccer with the Richmond Strikers. Sea even volunteers to coach in his spare time with the Richmond Strikers indoor soccer team. Even a sport as globally recognized as soccer was far different in America than in Cambodia.
“Soccer here is definitely a lot different. You have more resources, transportation, clubs and everything you want. Lastly, the support from family and friends,” Sea said.
We took some time to discuss racial discrimination against the AAPI community and how as a father, he navigates discussions like this with his children.
“As a father, we’ve discussed the issue regularly. I believe we need to open our eyes and heart. Learn about each other, help, and get to know each other. Everyone should be treated equally and given the same opportunity,” Sea said.
This isn’t the only instance in which Sea has discussed the topic of racial discrimination against the AAPI community. Sea said at the Khmer Samacky Monastery Temple, where he volunteers some of his time as a secretary, there have been many discussions on the topic at hand.
“We discussed hate crimes among friends and families, especially against Asians. People that have hate in them are ignorant and close-minded,” Sea said, “It needs to stop ASAP.”
Sea has worked at Super Radiator Coils for 23 years as a Quality Analyst, he and spreads the rest of his time volunteer coaching with his daughter or working at the Khmer Samacky Monastery Temple. Sea is a living, breathing depiction of the American Dream in all of its faults and glory. From struggling to overcome adversity as an immigrant to serving in the military for the very country that was so foreign to him many years ago.
