Dear fellow students, faculty, friends, and family, My name is Sam Myers and I'm from Albania.
Coming here was a great experience for me. I grew up in a poor country where the chances to get a good education were extremely limited. I went to schools with broken windows, and did homework by candlelight because we had no power. I was raised in a simple family by parents who loved me dearly, cared for me, and taught me life values that I carry with me. I wish they were here today.
My parents had no educational background and could barely read or write. I had nothing compared to what young people in America have. But my parents communicated to me the importance of a good education, and today I am graduating from Marefat Community College in the United States of America. What a huge difference!
The fall of communism in Albania in 1990 brought Albanians hope for the future. As every young man, I had dreams and one of them was studying abroad. God brought me here in a miraculous way. While providing medical care for the Kosovo refugees during the war of 1999, I met the people who provided the financial support I needed to come to America. It was exciting and scary at the same time. I had lived all my life with my family in the same country, but it was time for big changes and new adventures.
I cherish the wonderful feelings of my first days on the Marefat campus. The easy access of many resources on campus including the library, computer labs, and many others made my learning process easy.
I have learned that the key to success is working hard and focusing on your goal. Despite the many distractions this country offered me, I reminded myself that I had a goal to reach and I was here for a specific purpose. Marefat Community College opened many new doors for my future. One of my greatest experiences was working at the Office of Student Life as a student programmer. I learned to work in a business environment, coordinating events and communicating with students and staff. Working as a team with students from different cultures and backgrounds opened my eyes to get a better picture of the world. For the first time in my life, I met people who did not look like me. As I got to know them, I was able to break the stereotypes I had built growing up in a country that was closed to the rest of the world for 50 years.
A girl from Sarajevo Bosnia settled in Florida along with her family after escaping Bosnia as war refugees. Since her aunt lived in Florida, she helped facilitate the proper paper work for acceptance into America. In the interview we discussed, gender roles, spiritual beliefs, food, in addition to the benefits and disadvantages of being part of this cultural group. It was a fascinating experience to learn about her family, history and culture.
In conclusion, my recently experience was when my family and me decides to moved to the United States. It was a tremendous change moved to another country. Moving to another country is giving us an opportunity about different language, meet new people, better jobs and great education. This experience maybe was harmful and difficult for all the family, but if we moved for better life, it could be an excellent opportunity for our future. To sum up, now we enjoying living here, my parents have a good job and my brothers and me study at great school.
For this case study, a new immigrant to the United States from Romania, Mike was interviewed regarding the difficu...
As I look back on my trip to Italy I learned several important lessons. I believe I have developed a greater empathy for those immigrants new to our country. Marlborough High School has students enrolled from other countries but I now feel an obligation to try and help them fit in. I believe I can make a greater difference through my school activities by having an appreciation and sensitivity to others of different cultures.
Since my father remained in Haiti while we made our home here in the states, by the time I was in my late teens I soon realized that I was the leader of my family. The apartment complex where we lived was increasingly becoming unsafe and it was very clear that I had to move us out of that environment into a safer one. I worked hard and saved up and when I was 23 years old I was fortunate enough to have my first major accomplishment by purchasing my own house where I moved in my mother, my 3 sisters, my younger brother, and occasionally my father. It made me feel good that I could provide a safer living environment for my entire family.
I got to experience living in two different places. They were both very different but, at the same time they had some things in common. I got the privilege of living in Mexico for about three years which was when I was five and once I turn seven I moved back to the United States where I had to repeat first grade. Living in Mexico and living in the United States was great but, the value of money, the language,and the weather were some of the situations that could be easily compared and contrast.
Break up of USSR was a difficult time for all but in this period of adversity I developed remarkable resilience and maturity. Spending 9 months in U.K. and observing the British medical system and having traveled all over Europe and Scandinavia has enhanced my communication skills. Sports and being a captain of volleyball team and the president in school has taught me mind and body control, the need for careful planning and how to both rely on team members and to get the best of myself.
We have heard a lot about people entering our country for the sole purpose of having their children born here so that they become citizens of our country. And we call our citizens Americans. But what is America, and what is an American? Is it just a person born here? And is America just the name of a geographical territory in the Western Hemisphere.
In 1776, the founding fathers of the United States of America declared that, as Americans, we have the right to three things; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Not just that, but our Pledge of Allegiance states “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. Though we learn about the idea of those words, do we ever stop and think about what they mean? What it means to be an American?
At the end of my ninth grade in Nepal, I was given an educational opportunity that impacted my life. I was able to go to the US, to meet my parents and start a better future there. At that time, I had just finished my ninth grade and I had been nervous about the journey and the beginning of my new life there. I was able to join high school only after a couple of weeks arriving into the US. The surroundings and the academic environment around me were totally different from Nepal. I chose to take this opportunity because it was the best possible way I could start my future and that would help me achieve my academic goals.
I am very proud to call myself an American. Living in this country has benefitted me and those around me greatly, so I feel great respect for what it has done. We as a nation have gone through very perilous times, which have all shaped our character for who we are today. We are a nation who has made great sacrifices to obtain equality for all men, races, and characters. We have a strong national defense that protects us from all foreign and interior harm. We have many opinionated groups of people who run our government. It is these things that I feel make us a great nation.
Today is our first day of being the leaders, doers, and problem solvers of the future. Those who persevere, who give it their all and approach each day with optimism will ultimately meet success and happiness. Of course, there will be many a failure on that windy road of life, but with dedication, we can do anything and make any dream come true. But, as we grow older and encounter success, we must not forget those who have had it rough, whose lives may have hit some potholes on the way, and we must take care of those who need a helping hand. As each of us leaves our mark on the world, be generous and be happy, and always remember the good times, good friends, and lessons learned at Marefat.
Life here was a completely different from where I came from. Everything was new for me, all the different kinds of food, the housing style, the cars, the technology and even the internet. Being here opened a world of opportunities to me and I was definitely going to take advantage of that. At the beginning the hardest thing for me was the language and getting used to all the different cultures. Even though I came here knowing very little English I always worked hard at school and do the best I could to learn it. People made fun of my accent but I wouldn’t mind since I needed to practice and their comments weren’t going to stop me. But I always had a goal in mind, going to college. I was always thinking ahead and how decisions such as giving my best or not could affect my future.
One experience that I will always remember is the day I was running errands and had the opportunity to meet a very special patient. She was a sweet woman who was originally from Mexico. We were having a friendly conversation when she asked me about why I chose to do community service at the hospital. I explained to her that I planned on majoring in the medical field one day and I was working on obtaining community service hours. We got to talking about the education systems in our countries. In our conversation I learned that only selected people were given the opportunity to receive an education in her native country of Mexico. She told me about the poor education system and the extreme poverty which debilitates Mexico. As a United States citizen, I am provided with a variety of options for education. People in Mexico must fight to obtain access to any education. This made me realize how truly fortunate I am.
To begin something new, you must sacrifice something old. To enter the real world, you must graduate your childhood.