A Narrative Essay About Moving To College

Ever since my parents divorced, everything was confusing. Under the circumstances, my mother decided to immigrate. Since I was a little girl, I wanted to travel the world; I wanted to experience new things, I wanted to meet new people, and to speak different languages. But not at twelve. I wanted to stay in Barranquilla, Colombia; I wanted to hold on to my culture, my traditions, and my familiar surroundings. However, I wasn’t old enough to make life changing decisions anyhow, we migrated to the US on September 7, 2012.

We brought one small suitcase for the three of us—and a set of imaginary luggage that was packed with hope, perseverance and dreams. We thought our lives had changed for the better, but we clearly did not know what was coming. After two weeks, we found ourselves without a place to rest our heads. No home, no food, no money, no family. We lived in more than ten different places in the Denver-metro area. We wondered daily when we were going to eat, and we pondered whether we were going to sleep

in a park, in a shelter, or in the streets.
After two years, my mother found a job in Nashville.

I did not want to move, because I had so much going for me in school. So I decided to stay in Colorado on my own. I had to learn to be disciplined, mature, and responsible. The imaginary border between childhood and adulthood had been unconsciously crossed at the moment when I decided to stay; I had entered the foreign world of adulthood.

Navigating through the city with a bus pass, during the hot summer weather, and having little to no idea about where to go, taught me about endurance. I also discovered that everyone had relevant information that could potentially be useful to me. Moreover, I learned to advocate for myself in order not to starve. I went to the food banks near my school, where they provided me with a decent meal. I also went to several churches, where they that gave dinner to the homeless. With gratefulness I enjoyed every meal that was given to me by generous

people.
Now I am seventeen, I’m filled with facts that come from my books. Importantly, though, I am also filled with the kind of knowledge that you do not learn in a classroom—the kind of wisdom that is taught by the streets, by solitude, by homelessness, the fact that you find yourself alone in a state of five million individuals, having to completely start over, leaving everything you know behind. I often found myself inside a deep hole, where I wanted desperately to get out. I was not going to quit, however, and I knew that I had to keep on fighting not only for me, but for my mom and my sister. Now, a new journey is waiting for me and I know for certain that I am more than prepared to take on college—all its challenges and complexities.
Even though our migration turned my life into a complicated ordeal, I do not reflect unfavorably on that time, since I believe that it made me stronger, built my character, and increased my wisdom in life. Endurance and perseverance are the attributes that have molded me into the person whom I am proud to present to the world. I know that whatever trials and tribulations life has in store, I will indeed overcome them. I will smile at the future because I know that great things come to those who fight for them.