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The life of an immigrant in america essay essay
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My experience as an immigrant in the United States
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“The day I arrived” May 12, 2011 , it was an important date for me. On May 12, 2011, I set foot in the United States. It was an incredible day. The weather was incredible enough to felt in love with United States right away. I still remember the season; because of the pleasant atmosphere; although in that moment I was sad, the incredible nature helped me to feel better. I left my country in the same day I arrived here. I was sad at first when my mom told me that I was going to live in the United States with the rest of my family ; Even though Six years passed without living with my mom I was excited to see her and spend time with her. For a moment when l was informed that l was going to move I thought ; maybe I am not going to adapted to a new routine of life ; because of the different seasons , and the culture. In my natural country ; …show more content…
One thing I still remember, while looking at the sun rising up was when ; she said never feel ashamed of who you are, and from what cultures you are. In that moment my heart crack in pieces , but I promised myself to not lose my origin. The plain, the people in there , they all looked fancy, but besides all of that l said to myself, living in America is not going to change me at all. During the fly I tried to looked at the important things such as ; nature , the sky ,and the clouds. When we arrived in Texas to do the first, and only scale it was around 8:45 P.M. I was tired but I kept admiring everything around the airport ; moreover the nature , in that specific time. When we were in our way to take the second plain in Texas I stopped with my mom for a moment in a Native Store to buy presents for my relatives, everything single piece of ceramic and clothes was very detail and creative. One thing I noticed about everything in the store was, that every single piece of ceramic of clothes was made of animal’s skin, so not everything was fancy and expensive in
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.
“You are in America, speak English.” As a young child hearing these words, it did not only confuse me but it also made me question my belonging in a foreign country. As a child I struggled with my self-image; Not being Hispanic enough because of my physical appearance and not being welcomed enough in the community I have tried so hard to integrate myself with. Being an immigrant with immigrant parents forces you to view life differently. It drives you to work harder or to change the status quo for the preconceived notion someone else created on a mass of people. Coming to America filled me with anxiety, excitement, and even an unexpected wave of fear.
A few months before all of this I was pleased with my calm life in a local city of Taiwan. I settled there at the age of two with my family, and things were going well so far. Because I lived there for ten years, the longest time that I ever spent living in one place, I had made really good friends and was not looking forward to any significant changes although my mom had told me a long time ago, we might move to USA to settle with our uncle and grandma. My mom also told me that the other reason we move is for a better education and life there but I was not listening at that time. I thought she was just joking around because my brother and I have always expected to have a vacation to other countries. By the time I finished my first year of middle school I knew that this was nearly impossible. My family was already packing up, cleaning out the house, and reserving four airplane tickets to USA.
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.
It's really difficult decision for my parents. We were not happy because we have to leave everything behind included our small house, family tradition, culture, and homeland, where we called home for years. My life had been changed since my family immigrated to United States, hopes for a better future and education. My parents said my life in Vietnam was hopeless, because the education was not good, result of disciplines, and hard to be successful. Not many teachers were helpful to students. I spent majority of time and lot of money for school, but learned nothing. Rather teaching students, teachers yelled at students just for a small mistake that he or she wasn’t intend to make. My classes were scheduled for the whole day without break. The same situation happened with my siblings. One day, my parents told me that we will be moving to America. After I heard my parents announced the new, I felt that my life soon will be changed and get a better education.
As I boarded the plane to move to the United States, the beginning of September 2005, I couldn’t help but think about all that I left behind; My family, my friends, my school, my clothes, and all of the awesome cultural food. Then again, I looked forward to this new life, a new beginning. I imagined it being like life in the movies, where everything seemed easy and life was just beautiful. After all, I was going to the States; the place where most people only dreamt of. I felt very blessed to have this opportunity because I knew that it wasn’t given to everyone. Coming to America marked my coming of age because I left behind my old life, I started life afresh, and I became a much grateful person.
Nobody really likes moving. At least I know, I don 't. Moving to another place you have no idea about is tough. When I was 14, my father petitioned my family to move to the United States. Upon hearing that news from my mother, I was devastated. Devastated that I have to leave the place that I grew up, leaving all my friends and family. I have to travel 10,000 miles across the glove to live in a place I have never been to. I have very little idea about United States before moving, I have only seen this place through screen, watched movies such as "High School Musical." From what I have heard and seen life seemed so much easier and happier in the US, but once I stepped out of the plane, I knew it would not be even close to what I have pictured in my mind.
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.
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.
It was a beautiful, sunny day in South Florida. I was six years old, playing by the pool with my new puppy. I loved swimming in the pool almost every day after school. I also enjoyed going out on our boat after school or crossing the street and going to the beach. My father came home one evening with some interesting news. Now, I do not remember exactly how I felt about the news at that time, but it seemed like I did not mind that much. He had announced that we were going to move back to my birth country, Belgium. I had been living in Florida for five years and it was basically all I had known so I did not know what to expect. I had to live with my mom at first, and then my sister would join us after she graduated high school and my father finished settling things. I remember most of my earlier childhood by watching some old videos of me playing by the pool and dancing in the living room. It seemed like life could not get any better. However, I was excited and impatient to experience a new lifestyle. I realized that I could start a whole new life, make new friends and learn a new language. Belgium was not as sunny as South Florida but it has much better food and family oriented activities. Geographic mobility can have many positive effects on younger children, such as learning new languages, being more outgoing, and more family oriented; therefore, parents should not be afraid to move around and experience new cultures.
Everyone has dream in life. Some people have a dream to visit different places and some people want to become successful in future. Likewise I also had a dream to come USA and to become successful in future. I was 17 when I came here with my parents. I heard a lot from my friends about their first day in USA. They said it was so sad however mine was the best day and the long day in my life which I can’t ever forget. I still remember that day in USA; I was sleeping in the airplane because I was so tired of traveling 18 hours flight. I was in a deep sleep suddenly I heard someone was calling my name because of that I wake up. It was my mom who was calling me. She told me to look outside I rub my eyes and looked outside. I still remember that moment when I first looked California, USA through plane window, those tall building which I saw in movies looks like a plane ground. I was so excited to be here in USA I feel like it is a piece of heaven.
It was about two years ago when I arrived in United States of America, and I still remember the day when I left my native country, Honduras. As I recall, one day previous to my departure, I visited my relatives who live in San Pedro Sula. They were all very happy for me to see me except my grandmother Isabel. She looked sad; even though she tried to smile at all times when I was talking to her, I knew that deep inside of her, her heart was broken because of my departure the next morning. I remember that I even told her, “Grandma, do not worry about me, I’ll be fine. I promise that I will write you letters and send you pictures as much as possible.” Here reply was, “I know sweetie I know you will.” Suddenly after she said that I started to cry. For som...
Moving to another country and starting a new chapter of life are two of the most difficult things in life. Nobody wants to change, including me. In my country, Vietnam, people usually says that "if you have a chance to live in the United States, your future will be so bright because living in America is living on a field that is full of gold." When I was young and still as a child, my parent told me that we will be leaving Vietnam and moving to the United States in the future. When I heard that, I was so happy. Four years ago, my family and I moved to the United States with the hope of having a better future and the happiness of family reunion with my grandparent. On the way to United State, we always thought, expected, and hoped that everything will be okay and fine. After few months we have been living in the new country, problems started to happen. My parents could not communicate and understand people who spoken English because they had no chance to study English back in Vietnam. In Vietnam, they only used motorcycle. When they came here, they had to learn how to drive cars. It was really hard for my parents to find jobs since they could not speak and understand English, could not drive either. Everything was new and we had to learn and start everything from the beginning. It was really hard for my parent, including me.
It is through the events in the journey of life that shapes and molds who we are as people. As for me, immigrating to America was one of those milestones that have shaped who I am. Those who have had the opportunity of moving from a different country to America know what a privilege it is. I felt the same honor to know that I would be journeying to the land of opportunity. Without hesitance, I spent the last two months packing and making the final preparations before moving to a new continent. Although it was a bittersweet time, leaving my beloved family behind, I knew that I couldn’t resist the treasure that waited for me in the new land. Coming from a developing nation the high level of sophistication that greeted me on arrival to America made feel like I was in paradise.
Even before arriving to the United States, the fear I felt was not having the familiarity of home (St. Lucia). Moving to the U.S meant that I had to start my life all over again. This time it would be without the unwavering support of my family and friends. Whether I succeeded or failed in school was entirely up to me. It wa...