Moving to the United States was not an easy journey for my family and I. I had to get integrate to a new society which meant a changing to my traditional lifestyle and habit and learning a new language and culture. In high school, I adapted well because many courses were not too vigorous, and the classes moved at a slower pace. On the contrary, college requires juggling multiple classes and adapting to the new college life. For eighteen years of my life, I had never spent more than two days away from my parents, so it was quite difficult at first. When I first started college, I pursued a major that I have no interest in. My parents wanted me to pursue a career in the medical field. I was not passionate or interested in this field, but I found
Today I will be talking about the first time I came to America and how it has changed my life. When I was five years old, I started first grade in Turkey. I was afraid because my parents signed me up late and I thought I wouldn’t be able to make friends. Both my parents came with me for the first day of school and I made them wait outside of my classroom because they couldn’t come inside the classroom. The first time I entered class, all the kids were with their friends and the teacher had assigned me in between two girls.
Challenge Essay Moving into The United States that has a different language has been the biggest obstacle that I have ever faced, especially with the fact that there was a time where I didn’t understand a single word of that language called English. This was a big obstacle in my life since I was raised in Mexico where the prime language, there is Spanish and that was the only language I knew back then, it was until the day had come where my family and I had to move into the United States due to the violence that has been happening in Mexico. I consider those times the most difficult ones of my whole life because I had to work triple than what I normally did in school in order for me to learn a huge complex language.
I want to start my story before I was even born. My dad came to the United States but my mom was still in the Philippines. Then when I was born in the Philippines, my mom took care of me for five years while my dad was working a minimum wage job in the U.S., trying to earn enough money to send both my mom and I to the United States so we could all have a better life, one where we could prosper more due to the opportunities that the U.S. provides. I grew up going to a public school from kindergarten to 5th grade where I met people of different races. When I was in school being in ESL (English as a Second Language) exposed me to even more people of color such as Mexicans, Middle Eastern people, Turkish people, Latinos, and other Asian people.
Growing up I always knew my mindset was far past my years. The way my mind worked was different and older than those kids around me, so it was no surprise for me to be on my own right from the get go after turning 18. For as long as I can remember I have always done everything by myself especially school related. My parents are Hispanic and speak little English, making me the first person in my family to attend college. My parents brought me to the United States from Mexico at the age of four and I have lived in Oklahoma ever since.
Growing up in an immigrant household in America, was difficult. I didn’t live, I learned to adapt. I learned to adapt to the fact that I did not look like any of my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that my hair texture would never be like any of my peers, so I changed. Adapted to the fact that I was not as financially well off as my peers, so I changed.
For as long as I can remember there has always been a yearning deep within my innermost being to experience first hand an array of cultures and countries. As a teenager, I had the good fortune to travel throughout Europe and to live in Germany for two years. Traveling and living abroad was so appealing to me that I decided as a young adult to relocate to Mexico. While in Mexico I not only acquired a profound respect and appreciation for their culture, but also worked diligently in order to achieve a near native proficiency in the Spanish language. Upon my return to the United States, I slowly began to formulate my next adventure, a trip to the culturally rich and uniquely diverse country of China.
Coming to America with my parents when I was about 11 years old was a new adventure for me. There were a lot of changes that needed to be made and experiencing new things. I would have to make some adjustment and getting used to the American culture and learning the language they speak. My parents had made a big sacrifice coming to America. Living their home country just so my siblings and I could get a better education and better life.
As a teenager moving to a new country with a different culture, different language, and being thousands of miles away from everyone I grew up with was not an easy change, however, that was precisely what I did in January of 2013 when I came to the United States with my father. My whole world changed since, and shaped my way of thinking. From learning English, adjusting to a new culture, experiencing my first snow and finding my way in my new country, my life has been an exciting adventure. My parents brought me to America almost 5 years ago to have a better life, and to get a better education.
The first eight years of my life, I spent in India where I was born. Growing up I was constantly reminded by my parents that I needed to make them proud by getting a good job and living a good lifestyle. They told me this because they did not want to see me live a hard life like they did. When I was nine years old, I moved from India to the United States of America. The reason why I moved to America was not because I was living a bad life in India, it was so that I could have a better education and more opportunities in life.
26 years ago. 9 thousand, 4 hundred, and 90 days have passed since I’ve been living this American dream. 26 years ago, I boarded a flight that changed my life forever. A flight that took me from a small town in Cape Verde to the land of the free, America, was the easiest decision I’ve ever made. Yes, I had to leave my family, the only thing I've ever known, but it was the right thing to do.
I used to have this grudges in my heart when everything go hard that would made me wanted to blame my parent. But I can’t because I was not raise to think that way. When I come to America, I was eleven years old and no one asked me if I wanted to come it just happen in a second. I was in a cold place with extended family that I never met before and that one person who raise me and made me feel secure was still back in the country. I had to lived months without her and next thing you know I adapted and convince myself they are doing this because the wanted the best for me.
This topic is truly interesting and exciting topic, especially for the one who considers himself as a person who is already so much different than anybody else. Why? There aren’t many high schoolers who have just emigrated to the States like me. I have not seen that many students who have just emigrated from their country. There are myriad of difficulties that people like me have to encounter and have to go through.
When I first came to American, I lived in a homestay. Parents in a host family are very nice to me. Every day they will give me a rich breakfast with ice drink, but we usually drink a cup of hot water in the morning in China. Chinese people think that drinking a cup of hot water in the morning can prevent stomachache. Therefore, I asked my home parents to give me a cup of hot water, and they were shocked by my request.
Coming from a low income family, living in a small town in India, I learned early on about struggling and surviving those struggles. I watched my parents working day and night to provide for electricity, pay for our monthly school fees so my sister and I can have a better education, and for the future they wished upon for their children. To further enhance this vision, my father decided for the family and I to immigrate to the US. Everything was different in the sense that I changed schools, learned a new language, had to make new friends, and learned the different culture. I had to adapt to a whole new world, which was a little difficult at 6 years old
I was opposed to choosing a career path that I had no interest in. Unfortunately, my knowledge of careers was slim so I entered college as a typical pre-med student. One of the first objectives I had to complete while starting my first year in college was to declare a major. Majority of pre-med students are biology majors, which led me to choose biology as a major. Once again, I had no interest in biology, but I followed this path