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Experiencing cultural difference
Experiencing cultural difference
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Jesus took my hand and walked with me across the rainbow over my grandmother’s yard and into the arms of my parents waiting at the end. This was a dream I had when I was six years old the night before I left Brasil for the first time. My parents had been in America for two years and they had finally called for my brother and I to join them. According to my mom, I was incredibly concerned with the fact that I didn’t speak the language, but little did I know that learning the language would be the least of my worries as an immigrant child entering America. After a twenty one hour flight I finally landed in America and was welcomed by two weeping strangers that turned out to be my parents. During my first week in my new home I would fight with …show more content…
In elementary school I was still just a little kid and though sometimes the culture from school clashed with the one at home, things went smoothly for the most part. The problem arose as I got older and began to understand my situation more. As I grew older I became more involved and began to take care of my own immigration issues such as applying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals so that I could obtain a work permit and social security number. When I entered high school as a freshman I had the same fears as any other freshman entering a new, larger school. However, I also had fears unique to myself and other immigrant students such as questions of whether my status would allow me to get a license, a car, or even attend college after high school? Not to mention travelling internationally was completely out of the question. I was confined within American borders while my friends travelled to Ireland, Africa, and Costa Rica on trips that I could only dream of attending. This was my reality as an immigrant student, my possibilities were limited compared with those of my friends and I had no idea how long they would be limited …show more content…
Here I am in a country that’s not my own, but still receiving a fantastic education that I would’ve never gotten back in my own country. However, socially being an immigrant can be stressful and awkward. It’s wonderful being able to share some of your culture with someone new. That is if you’re talking with someone that is completely comfortable with immigrants. In conversations with someone that’s not as used to speaking with immigrants things can get uncomfortable. By no means do I fit the stereotypical Brasilian look, so when people talk to me and suddenly find out that I’m not American then the questions start, “Wait you’re not American? Wow! But you don’t even have an accent! So do you speak brasilian at home?” The one thing that is on the tip of everyone’s tongue though regards your status. Some people try to be sneaky and ask, “Have you been back since you left?” Before I got a chance to visit Brasil this past summer I would always have to answer no. Of course the follow up question was always, “Why haven’t you gone back?” It always stumped me because on the one hand I wanted to just blurt the truth, but the easier way out was the answer I always gave, “It’s just too
Firstly, Roberto Gonzalez lays out some background situations involving the struggle to transition into adulthood. He says that public schools teach undocumented students at early ages the idea of what he terms “unity of experiences and orientation,” which is the feeling of fitting in with peers in school. After, he says that the coming of age is delayed much longer today because young adults are taking longer in college, exit from their parent’s household, entry into a full-time career, and decisions about marriage and
The American dream is a goal many hope to live. This desire dream of many individuals includes a hardship, and dedication. The United States represents freedom to many immigrants who fought for a better way of life. America has been a nation of immigrants, starting with its original inhabitants, who left their homelands for a chance to start a new life. According to an article by Gilder Lehrman Institute, over the past 400 years immigrants have escaped to America for many reasons. In the article some reasons for their escapes from their homes was due to war; others for the freedom to practice the religion of their choice. Freedom is the key in America, and the pursuit of happiness, which many fought to be part of. Many immigrants take long journeys for the economic opportunities. Even after thousands of years of immigration history America is still the land of the free, and the country where many can accomplish their American Dream.
By the late nineteenth century the economic lines in America between the upper and lower class were quickly widening because of the boom of urban industrial expansion. Moreover, during the 1800s, America witnessed an influx of immigrants coming from many parts of the world, they made tenement houses in New York’s lower East Side a common destination. One person witnessing the living conditions of these tenements was journalist Jacob A. Riis. For several years, Riis, with camera in hand, tooked a multitude of photographs that depicted the atrocious working and living conditions in the New York slums. Riss reported that the tenements were severely overcrowded, unsanitary, and a breeding ground for crime and disease. Riss also claimed that the “slum” landlords of these tenements exploited immigrants by charging them more rent than they could afford. As a result, every member of the family had to work—even young children. Subsequently, in 1890, Riis wrote a book entitled: How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York, which included his horrifying photographs and sketches, as means to expose to the middle class the chaotic environment of tenement living. Although Riss’s book exposes a myriad of social and economic problems regarding tenement housing, one of the more prominent ills his photographs and prose reveal is the harsh and distressing reality that immigrant families from the lower class must treat their children as a form of labor in order to survive. With this in mind, by describing and analyzing three of Riis’s photographs, I will demonstrate the validity of my argument which portrays the exploitation of child labor.
Fortunately, contrary to what we had originally thought we were one of the few lucky ones. Our family stayed together and as immigrants, we continue to struggle through the many negative stigmas. This is not the ending to our story but simply a story of new beginnings in a foreign country. As my parents say frequently “America is the land of opportunity” and this is an opportunity I will hold tightly and never let
James, D. C. (1997). Coping With A New Society: The Unique Psychosocial Problems Of Immigrant Youth. Journal of School Health, 67(3), 98-102.
Every year, about 2.8 million students graduate from a United States high school. They have dreams of going to college or to the military to have an opportunity to make something of their lives. However, each year, there is also a group of about 65,000 students who will not have that chance to advance in their lives (CIR_DREAM paragraph 1). They are unable to do so because they were brought to the US illegally by their parents when they were children, and have the status of an illegal immigrant. Despite the fact that these individuals have lived their entire lives in the US, this immigration status hinders their ability to obtain a higher education.
Once you arrive, however, your optimism turns into a living nightmare. Your daughter comes home from elementary school crying because somebody called her a “wetback”. Then your son comes home from middle school with a black eye because he was jumped by a group of white guys who said they did not like “spics”. This not only horrifies you as a parent but astonishes you at the same time, because you come from a diverse place in which your siblings were not told racial slurs or woefully stereotyped as illegal aliens. You can not stop thinking about your kids’ first day at school, but you know you must pull yourself together and go to work.
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.
In the primary years, I frustratingly assimilated and forced myself to learn English and American culture like many other immigrant children. I missed my home in Mexico; but, unfortunately, returning voluntarily was not an option, because it is this country that gave mami the medical care she needed. The toughest years in my academic journey were in high school when I began to comprehend the significance of being an illegal immigrant. First, there was the stress caused by high expectations and the difficulty of earning outstanding grades 100% of the time. Secondly, there was the complication of not having a social security number and the barriers this posed when pursuing a higher education. Lastly, there were insensitive and threatening comments from educators who, instead of inspiring me to go against the odds, imposed fear and anxiety after confiding in them my immigration status. High school is where I learned to hate myself for being an
When my family and I got in the plane that would take us to the U.S., I was very excited. It was as if I had butterflies in my stomach. I was also nervous because I had heard of people that were turned away when they got to America because the government was not letting as many immigrants into the U.S as they had in the past. Therefore, my whole family was a little anxious. Two things could happen when we arrived at the Washington, D.C., airport. We could either come to the United States to chase after “the American dream”, or we could be turned away which meant that we would have to return to our country of origin.
It was the summer going into 6th grade I was so excited for soccer season to start at my middle school. I would regularly check my calendar during the monotonous summer days to see how many days left until tryouts. My foreign parents are very strict and stubborn so I decided it would be best to inform them ahead of time so they don’t cancel my tryout plans.
As we become more of a multicultural nation, the number of immigrant youth continues to increase (Hernadez & Napierala, 2012). These children are the potential leaders and future of our country. However, this specific group of children are more likely to experience poverty, language barriers, and sociocultural barriers, and “when cultural inclusion is not achieved, shame, guilt and a sense of powerless-ness are often experienced” (Ukasuanya, 2013). How can we trust our future in the hands of these deviant children? This petition calls for the provincial ministry of education of each respective province to provide funding and support, as well as each district school board to implement an immigrant children mentorship program within schools.
If you are faced with the necessity of moving away from your home, leaving behind family, friends, colleges, your hometown, and many of your personal belongings, the chances are that you would feel a large array of emotions. You would feel the nervousness that climbs up your skin, sending tingles to your fingertips, an uneasy feeling gnawing at you from the inside, refusing to go away for anything, the bitter fear of something going wrong and all of your hard-earned efforts going out in vain, and the weary grief of losing nearly everything you've ever had. With all of these haunting emotions, it is no wonder why settling into a new country can be so hard. Not to mention how stressful it could be to try and fit into a new environment socially and financial. However, here are a few ways to get ahead of the difficulties of being an immigrant:
In 2015, 13.3 percent of the United States were people who had immigrated here (Zong, Jie). They came here in search of the American dream however, what they found was slightly less. Adjusting to a new life is difficult, especially when you are from a different culture. Teens even in our school, of different cultural identities, face many internal and external challenges, including stereotyping, assimilation, discrimination, and acceptance.
Considering the fact that I am of African American decent my family has mostly lived in the United States since the early 1800s. So, rather than speak of that long journey I choose to speak of the adventures of my mother and I.