Personal Narrative Essay: From One Place To Another

From one place to another
At the age of seven, my life changed forever. I was no longer living in my native country; I was now a fragment of the millions of immigrants who come to the United States in search of the American Dream. At the time, my father had recently lost his job and my mother was unemployed, which caused incredible financial stress for my family. My father decided to risk his life crossing the Rio Grande River for our family to have a better life and greater rewards.
Fall came by and it was time for my sister, mother and I to pack our things and meet him in Dallas. It was difficult to leave all of our friends and family members behind, knowing we would most likely never see each other again. I had faith that our lives would be better

I was mocked for my accent and lack of understanding. Although I was temporarily separated from other students, I was later relocated to a classroom where I had to utilize the English language exclusively. This was a drastic change. I’d never struggled with school. I constantly remember the many times I had to stay for tutoring and went home crying because I was frustrated by my inability to comprehend something my classmates took for granted. During this time period I met Mr. Otero, my math teacher who was an immigrant from Cuba, he was a crucial person to my development of language. Mr. Otero was the only person who truly understood my struggle to fit in the “American” way of life. I had trouble understanding standard English and definitely had no idea what exactly slang American language was. With Mr. Otero’s assistance, I began reading and practicing the English language. While Malcolm X was incarcerated, he used his time in prison to educate himself which is exactly what Mr. Otero advised me to practice. Likewise, I utilized a similar method to Malcolm’s X strategy, copying words from the