The Vietnam War was taking place, which was raising all sorts of questions in the United States, and it was forcing Asian-Americans to stop thinking of themselves as model minorities and to identify themselves more with world revolution, which was very important in my development.
Even today, you get criticized if you're staying at home, because you're not doing enough with your life, but you get criticized for being a career woman because you're not raising your kids.
My parents had a normal life in Russia and they could have easily kept living a normal life, working and raising a child in Russia.