Violence for what reason?

Jimmy Nguyen
ASA 2 Section A01
Reflection #7 - I am a man with a heart - Andrew Thi

    In his article, Andrew Thi tells his story about how he came to America from Cambodia with his family in 1981. After escaping the violence in Cambodia, Andrew and his family began his new life in America. However, growing up, Thi had difficulty finding a positive path. He began stealing and doing other various criminals when he was just in middle school. I wouldn't say he got in with the wrong crowd, but he hung out with people who he shouldn't have hung out with. His "friends" influenced him towards the path of becoming a criminal and it affected him and his family deeply. In the article, Thi details his success in school, but his life behind the scenes. I was surprised to see how smart he was and how well he did in his classes because of all the things he did when he wasn't at school. Thi truly lived a double life and although he was constantly caught, he never changed. He continued to steal and violently and wrongfully receive money. As he got older, the crimes and violence got worse and he began to face legal issues. After facing time in juvenile hall, he began to face jail time. It was then that the U began passing deportation laws where Thi risked being deported back to Cambodia due to his criminal record. Although many people argue that the deportation law was wrong, in Thi's case, I have to disagree. Reading the article, I felt extremely bad and empathetic for Thi's family. His family worked really hard after coming to America and truly cared for Thi despite his criminal activities. They gave up everything they had to stop Thi from getting deported. I feel like he didn't deserve them at all and the deportation law was a god wake up call that put Thi on the right track. In the end, he was able to escape deportation and began changing his life for the better. Many people see this law as unfair and unjust but I honestly feel like some people deserve it. Thi didn't really learn from his mistakes and hurt his family in the end. The deportation law would've been just punishment for what he did.

Question: Why didn't Andrew Thi just stop his crimes despite how well he did in school? What potential would he have had if he had just learned his lesson growing up?