I Am An Immigrant Essay

I am an immigrant, which I sometimes view as a privilege and other times not so much. It felt wonderful when my relatives were kind to my family because we got our visas to come to the United States. I was born in Bangladesh in a small village in my tiny house. Not the typical story you hear from many of my peers. My birth is very important to me, not because I ever celebrated my birthday. It wasn’t until I came to the United States that I realized that people actually celebrates their birthdays, but I never argued about celebrating because I knew my parents were not aware of birthday parties and because we were always financially unstable. My desire to have a birthday party made me realize that my family was economically inferior.

I was a somewhat unwanted child, because the culture exalted male children and despised female children. I was my parents’ third daughter. I was also the darkest skinned, another trait that was undesirable in my culture. I cannot forget that my mother was unsatisfied when she had me. When I was at my tender age my told me about her past and why she wanted a son and dissatisfied when I was born. From her upbringing and the cultural praise of male children, she too wanted a son. However, my father was always proud of us even though we were daughters. As a little girl I would go to my father and touch him in order to become light like him, and he told me I was his precious gold. His love and acceptance of everyone inspired me to aim higher. My father doesn’t believe gender determines a person’s intelligence, so he always hoped for the best for his three daughters and son. I realized that my parents’ had different perspectives on their children because of their varying upbringings. Coming to America I...

... middle of paper ...

...ousins is a doctor who graduated from New York University. The fact that I got into New York University, and planning to attend medical school, angers my relatives. When I was accepted into New York University, besides my siblings and my parents none of my other relatives congratulated me on my acceptance. My father’s heart was filled with joy when he heard I got in. I also realized that that’s all that matters to me, the happiness of my parents and siblings.

I like people in general. I think in order to survive we need people. But I don’t like people who make assumptions, which is most of us. I like being an immigrant. I want to be successful and inspire other minorities. I like New York University. I like New York City and I like Bangladesh, even though these are the only two places I’ve ever been in my life. I don’t want to be weak. I want my life to inspire me.