At some point in our lives we experience a culture as an outsider by moving from one culture to another. Adapting to new culture as an immigrant we are faced with fear of forgetting our culture, its values and the roots of our origin. We have to deal the guilt of leaving our beloved land of birth and emerging in a new journey. Must people have a difficult time to adjust when they move to a new place and go through changes. I am not the exception. My family decided to move from Mexico to the United States of America when I was just 14 years old, my family and especially me, suffered cultural and identity crisis. A whole different culture, unused language to learn and economical obstacles to overcome at a young age. Today in society. there …show more content…
At the time I arrived to this country I was fourteen years old, mature enough to understand why I had to leave my country, my origins, my friends, my school, my family and much more.
I had to to make adjustments in my life, first of all I did not know how to speak English. I was extremely scared to meet people. I felt under pressure to study and learn English fast and sometimes I wondered about a drug to acquire this language
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Muñoz stated “Something as simple as saying our names in ‘English’ was our unwittingly complicit gesture to blend in” (209). I totally agree with Muñoz in this statement, as I think that many people change their names for convenience because they want to “fit in” in their new environment, including me. Since I moved to this country, I have tried so hard to fit in in this American society. When I attended Soquel High School, I did not mind my name constantly mispronounced, I just wanted to be included or do not feel left out. I decided to tell everyone to call me “Chris” or another name similar, but more Americanized. I wanted to feel more welcome in a new circle of friends and be able to have a more American identity. All of the sudden, I was drifting away from my origins and culture without even noticing
The non-native English speakers had to assimilate. When they came to the United States to live their new life in the states. In the article “Leave Your Name at the Border,” Munoz’s stepfather had to change his name so that he could better support his family in the states but if had never changed his name he was at risk of getting passed over for a job. “This isn’t to say that my stepfather welcomed the change, only that he could not put much resistance,” for a country that’s supposed to have freedom but does not allow to keep your name which is part of your culture so that you could be better accepted into their
Have you imagined leaving your homeland behind and settling in a different country? As a kid I always enjoyed the idea of traveling the world, and discovering new things, but never had thought it would be very hard to let go everything and leave. Growing up, I was always eager to meet new people, learn new languages, and make my own adventures in life. Soon, that dream turned into reality when my family decided to move to the United States of America in hopes of having a better future and new opportunities. I had mixed feelings and was confused about what to expect in the future. However, this was the biggest fear I have ever faced in my life. It was difficult to get adjusted to a new culture challenging because change brings the unknown and unfamiliar with it.
There are millions of people who attempt to cross the border every day. These people cross the border from different countries to the United States to live a better life, to provide for their loved ones, and to live the American Dream. The American Dream is to be able to spend time with family while paying the house bills and the car bill all while having a job. People migrating to the United States could be an advantage and a disadvantage in the United States. In “The Crossing” by Ruben Martinez the social issue is immigration. Immigration is a problem in this story because we see a lot of immigrants trying to migrate to the United States. Ruben Martinez mentions in the short story “The Crossing” This desert is armed with Mexican and American
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.
I was so close to my Mexican culture that when I was actually exposed to the American culture it was like I was from a foreign place. When I started to get used to the American culture and started becoming an “American” I was sent to Mexico to a Mexican rodeo camp. There I was with people that had the complete different ideals than what I was just getting used to. I went through the exact same thing that I had went through in America. I was found in this big mix-up.
There are many challenges that one must face as we go through life. I have faced a few myself, however, none proved more challenging than moving from my country; Jamaica, to the United States and subsequently moving to the state of Wisconsin. Deciding to leave behind family and friends is the hardest decision to make, however, there are a few things that I was not prepared for that made the transition more challenging than expected. Moving away from all that is familiar culturally, socially and economically can be even more of a daunting task than imagined. There are things that are taught to us by our parents and others that are more dictated by our environment than anything else, so when I immigrated to the United States I had three major challenges to overcome.
Growing up, the biggest challenge I faced was being a first generation Latina student. My family came from an extremely rural neighborhood in Guanajuato, Mexico called La Sandia. Both my parents achieved up to 5th-grade education in their hometowns. They decided to sacrifice their lives in Mexico to provide a better life for their family and then decided to migrate to the U.S to achieve what many people consider the American dream.
When I first came to this country, I wasn’t thinking about the language, how to learn it, use it, write, how I’m going to speak with people who are next to you and you want to talk to them. My first experience was in Veterans School, it was my first year in school here in United States, and I was in eight grades. The first day of school you were suppose to go with your parent, especially if you were new in the school, like me. What happened was that I didn’t bring my dad whit me, a woman was asking me a lot of questions and I was completely loss, I didn’t have any idea of what she was telling me and I was scare. One funny thing, I started cry because I fell like frustrate, I didn’t know no one from there. Someone seat next to me, and ask me in Spanish what was wrong and I just say in my mind thanks God for send me this person, then I answered her that I didn’t know Engl...
New country means new language, new culture, new people and different lifestyle. I never thought of being somewhere where you don’t know the language and people. For my parent and me the difficult part was learning new language. Since, I and my sister were going to school, so we knew Basic English. But for my parents adopting new language after so many years was really tough. Since, my dad had his own business, he also had to take care that before we move to us.
When one first moves to a completely new and unfamiliar cultural environment, assuredly he or she will experience cultural shock and disorientation. Culture shock can be from many different aspects, for examples, climate, foods, language, custom, social etiquette, environment and etc. Culture shock might cause depression, homesickness, confusion, sadness, frustration, in which one has to overcome when arrived in a new country. Personally, I had experienced culture shock when I first arrived in America from FuZhou, China; I felt lost and confused. Similarly, Tanya, who is from Kharkiv, Ukraine had experienced cultural shock and had felt unsuitable because of foods, school, and living habits when she came to America one and a half years ago.
The changing environments throughout the ages have caused the movement of thousands of families out of their homelands. Whether forced to make such decisions or doing so by their own desires, all immigrants have had to survive the physical and psychological challenges encountered along the way. To speak about the experiences of all these different people using the same ideas and examples would be quite inaccurate. They all, however, had to live through similar situations and deal with similar problems. Many of them succeeded and found the better future they were looking for. Many others found only hardship and experienced the destruction of their hopes and dreams. All of them were transformed.
My parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1999. My mother came to this country first in January of that year, along with her parents and her siblings. She left behind her husband and her two daughters in search of a better life for all of us. Being away from your child even for a minute is the hardest thing to do as a mother. Not a day went by during our separation that she didn't think of us, did not long to hold us in her arms and to sing us to sleep with sweet lullabies. She fought back tears and endured heartache every day, but she knew that in the long run, this would all be worth it.