Alexa Acosta, Ms. Figueroa & Ms. Mangano. Immigrant Stories. C. April 3, 2024. Trauma (The Aftermath) - "The Aftermat What are some long or short lasting effects from the migration journey? The migration journey is different for everyone. Sometimes it can be easier than others' experiences, but there are also times where the journey is grueling and tough. But each and every journey comes with its effects–whether it be short or long, mental or physical, it usually affects the individual nonetheless. And some of these effects can be traumatizing. In Sonia Nazario’s Enrique’s Journey, it’s written to tell the story of what Enrique experienced throughout his journey in immigrating to America. In “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose …show more content…
Allowing the reader to educate themselves on different ways one can be affected by their journey. Though some may say people don't get traumatized. Trauma can be different and show up in many ways depending on the individual. One’s trauma can linger until a reaction is triggered by a factor. Some factors can directly relate to the traumatizing experience itself, and sometimes its not entirely connected, but can remind a person of the event. One of the types of trauma is mental or psychological, and that’s what’ll be discussed first. For example, in “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant”, Vargas mentions, “I was trying to stand out in a highly competitive newsroom, yet I was terrified that if I stood out too much, I’d invite unwanted scrutiny. I tried to compartmentalize my fears, distract myself by reporting on the lives of other people, but there was no escaping the central conflict in my life. Maintaining a deception for so long distorts your sense of self.” Here he explains his fears–these fears that have been engraved into his mind. These fears came with the process of when he first immigrated and had to use a fake identity. This would be an example of trauma since it has gotten to the point …show more content…
He refuses to make Mother’s Day cards at school. He begins hitting other kids.” (pg. 24) This is another example of mental trauma, where Enrique begins to project his emotions from his mother, leaving him onto everyone else around him. These two pieces of evidence support my theme of trauma because they both mention and display examples of mental trauma. Both affected the individuals mentally–including behavioral-wise. Often, trauma can be physical. Physical trauma is mostly caused by getting hurt in some type of way, and it’s common for it to be visible on the body. This can be because someone was abused, self-harmed, or gained an addiction (drugs, smoking, drinking, etc.). that harms the body and the body. For instance, in “Enrique’s Journey”, it’s stated, “He still cannot see well with his left eye, and the lid sags. His arms and legs are mottled with bruises,” pg. 159) On that same page, it’s describing the aftereffects of the beating Enrique had taken back when he was traveling on the freight train. These are examples of the long-term effects of physical trauma. The way his bruises and wounds still hurt from time to time, even after time had passed
Being a Hispanic have impacted all my entire life; I lived 15 years of my life in Mexico I love being there because most part of my family live in Nuevo Laredo, I was cursing my last months of 8th grade and one day my mom told me that she was thinking about send me here to the U.S to start learn English; since I’m a U.S citizen and I didn't know the language of my country, I accepted. The most hard prove was live without having my mom at my side, since I live with my aunt now; when the days passed here in the U.S I started to depressed myself because I missed so much my house and all my family, one day in the middle of the night I call my mom crying and I told her that I really want go back to Mexico, but she didn’t take into account my desire my mom just explained me that it will be the best for my future and with the time I will be thankful with her for don’t let me go back. My mom, and my grandmother are the ones who motivates me to be a better student. Actually I’m in dual enrollment and I have taken AP classes; sometimes is hard for me talk, read or write in another language that the one I was accustomed but, every time I fail I get up and persist until I’m able to do what I want.
Humans have a never ending thirst for a better life, and a better existence for themselves and those they hold dear. Jose Antonio Vargas was sent away from the Philippines by his mother hoping that he would be able to achieve a better life, and be happy. In “Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant” Vargas is able to find his better life and happiness in America but also fear and anxiety. Vargas gives us a look into the life of an illegal immigrant the good, the bad, their achievements and their constant struggles. Very much like Vargas my father immigrated to America, but legally in 1986.
Anthropologist Leo Chavez presents a very descriptive and detailed account when he wrote Shadowed Lives, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS IN AMERICAN SOCIETY it takes readers into the lives and experiences of illegal immigrants. Chavez is detailed within the book points are placed regarding people's choice to migrate as well as their stories of crossing the border into the United States We can learn a lot from Chavez's book, making distinct opinions on immigration itself, and the difference in immigration culture after migrating.
Jose Vargas, an undocumented immigrant, believes hard work can greatly impact the ability to gain citizenship in the United States. In the article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” Vargas explains his life and how much he struggled lying his way through school and work. To persuade the reader to believe that he should be considered an American citizen, Vargas uses rhetorical strategies throughout his essay. Vargas’ use of pathos was very effective because it caused the reader to empathize for him and providing information about his background made his character more reliable through ethos, however his lack of logos made a big difference throughout his article.
I roll my r’s with pride and that pride carries me through my journey of being a first generation Mexican-American. I was born and raised in the town of Salinas, also referred to as the “salad bowl”. Beaming in culture, Salinas also possesses a dark side due to gang violence soliciting each young member of my town. Immigrating to the United States, my parents’ initial priority was to find a job rather than an education in order to survive and keep me away from the darker Salinas. To make sure of this, my parents always encouraged me to try my best in school and make it my main focus. At a young age I began to notice disadvantages I had including the lack of resources at school. Realizing we only had 5 books for about 30 students, I felt unmotivated
Migration has been found to have negative effects on mental health because of circumstances surrounding the move, circumstances of the actual passage, trouble adapting to the new culture, breaks in the migrant’s support system of friends and family, and disappointed expectations of social and economic acquisition.
There is a common consensus among people around the world that the United States of America is the greatest country in the world because it is the land of opportunity, and the land of immigrants. In fact, the United States of America has always been the epicenter for the world 's greatest minds, and where hard work is recognized and rewarded. A place where boys become the future leaders of the world. A place where everyone, regardless of the color of their skin and their religion collaborate to solve the world’s future/current problems. Recently though, many Americans claim that undocumented immigrants steal their jobs, don’t pay any taxes, and still reap the benefits such as free public schooling. However, the author of “My Life as an Undocumented
"Why did she sing when she can’t even pronounce the words right? Haha that F.O.B. is so stupid!" These were the haunting words that I overheard my classmate utter to her friend as I was walking off the stage from my solo singing performance, cold sweat trickling down my face and warm tears welling up as my vision got blurry. These words remained etched in my memory as I was constantly reminded of the fact that I needed to improve my American accent to conform and assimilate into the American society.
Do you know how an undocumented Immigrant lives in the United States? If not, one such immigrant, journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, wrote "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant," published on June 22, 2011, in The New York Times Magazine, and responded the question with his life experience. He confided his secrets living in America, where he wasn 't supposed to live in. According to his words, he worked hard to enable maintaining in America, throughout, proving his value in America but just couldn 't get his documents. Vargas building his credibility base on the details of his personal affairs, convincing people to rethink about the undocumented Immigrants, and encouraging readers face the hardships and strive to make yourself better. However, towards the middle of his paper, he started to write about he 's gay weakens his purpose of the essay and
In my 18 years of life everyone has known me as the girl with the unique and hard to pronounce name, however there is more to me than just having a weird name. Like everyone , I have goals. My main goal is to become a neonatal nurse, someone who works with infants born with different health status. My archetype is a martyr, which represents my future goal in a way that nurses and martyrs sacrifice their time to help others in need. Now that I have informed you about my career goal I will talk about how I became to be the person I am today.
Where I am from, coming to America is an unachievable dream for most people; however, that dream became attainable to me one summer. When my father told my family and me that we were moving to America, I was very excited and I thought about a lot of things. I thought about all of the opportunities there were in the U.S. and how rich everyone must be. I also thought that everyone in the U.S. lived in big houses, and every school had a swimming pool. Most of what I conceived about America came from watching television, and a month later I would find out how wrong I was.
At a young age, my teachers and parents taught me to believe that I could do and accomplish anything that I set my mind to. I grew up thinking that I was unstoppable and that the only limit to my achievements was the sky. However, during my second year in high school, I began to realize that I was not as unstoppable as I had thought. I began to experience the consequences of my parent’s decision of bringing me to the United States illegally. Among those consequences were, not being able to apply for a job, obtain a driver’s license or take advantage of the dual enrollment program at my high school, simply because I did not possess a social security number. I remember thinking that all of my hard work was in vain and that I was not going to
Immigration has always been a large conflict people have faced all across the world. There are plenty of reasons why people migrate to a country, whether it may be the United States or any other particular one. Many people often come in an attempt to escape poverty, crime, or to simply have a better opportunity to better their lifestyle. Although there are people who migrate and commit severe crimes, there are others who sacrifice themselves in order to live a better life. In addition to that, I believe the government should approve new immigration laws in favor of immigrants who come to better their life and achieve their dreams.
According to the American Psychological Association, trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event. Some terrible events that happen all too often are rape, natural disasters or an accident. Immediately following the event shock and denial are likely to occur, but in the long-term flashbacks, unpredictable emotions and troubled relationships can arise. Defining emotional trauma on a child. Emotional trauma in a child can be created by bullying, emotional abuse, death of loved ones, separation from parent, or chaos and dysfunction in the household. Child symptoms of trauma can be very similar to depression symptoms. They can over sleep or sleep to little, unexplained anger, trouble focusing, obsessive worrying and some anxiety. How a child experiences an event and how it’s handled by those around him have an effect on how traumatizing it can be, notes Dr. Jerry Bubrick (Child Mind Institute , 2017). People grieve at different speeds and the way the child grieves is not the correct indicator on how the child will cope later. Defining physical trauma on a child. Physical trauma on a child is considered non-accidental or the cause of physical injury. Some households that suffer from alcoholism/substance abuse and anger issues have higher occurrences of child abuse as compared to households without according to psychology today. Sometimes kids that are abused are unaware that they are being abused and are victims of child
Challenges Faced by Immigrants 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.