Essay On Immigration Journey

The experience of the Immigration Journeys: Old and New gave me great insight of the struggles immigrants face when coming to a new country, whether in the past or present. This event was held at a public library close to Pittsburgh, and was meant to share the stories of ten residents that had immigrated to Pittsburgh from all over the world. While the videos were short, they told a vivid story of these individuals’ lives. I learned much more than I thought I would about what it is really like to move to America. As someone who was born in America and has never really left, I cannot say I had much of an idea of what it is like to immigrate to a new country. All I knew was taught in school out of textbooks. I had never had any real experience with the subject. In Dorothy Day’s autobiography

These struggles were discussed in the video presentation at Immigration Journeys. I found this topic gave a decent amount of insight in what it is like to be an immigrant. Just moving to the new country is not the biggest struggle. There are many other obstacles they have to face to feel like they belong. Intigrating into the community is a significant challenge to face for immigrants. Being somewhat of an outsider can hold some back from adapting to their new culture and community. But from this experience, I’ve realized that it is important for immigrants to embrace their native culture and bring some of that to their new community. This benefits everyone, because everyone can learn and be more involved with one another. As Day says in her autobiography, “The most significant thing is community, others say. We are not alone any more” (285). No matter if an immigrant came here unaccompanied or with family, the new land can feel lonely. Only when they’ve truly adjusted to their new home and the people there, can they feel like they