Being A Child Of Immigrant Parents Essay

El Olvido by Judith Ortiz Cofer, covers the dangers of forgetting yours roots and culture. It emphasizes the idea that forgetting where one comes from and creating adjustments in a new setting, may be dangerous to the person. Many people are able to relate to this text, but Cofer was able to direct this to the hispanic race, as the common spanish names Jesus, Maria and Jose are used.

My most rewarding accomplishment consists of my ability to overcome the fear and weakness that was conceived upon my arrival to the United States from Mexico, in addition to a newly evolved character which allowed me to achieve academic, professional, and personal success. Nearly seven years ago, my mother and I immigrated from a harsh economic climate in Mexico that was plagued with unemployment. Additionally, our family faced bankruptcy. While holding onto our faith, we left our hometown with only what we could carry and bought two one-way bus tickets. With nothing more than fear, two bags, and $50 in each of our pockets, we set out for what would be the most challenging journey of our lives.

I’m the first generation of my family to be Mexican -American, but I have been introduced to the Mexican culture since I was born. I appreciate the difficulties my parents have faced to make me the person that I am today even though I wasn’t born in Mexico my parents have taught me the language and the culture which I’m so proud of being part of. For others being Hispanic is actually being born in any Latin American countries which is not true at all. Being Hispanic is much more than my cultural background it actually describes how much I appreciate my culture and how I get to experience things other people don’t. I fit into the Hispanic community through the experiencing the culture first hand ,participating in traditions and planning to include my culture in my future.

My family has always been the center of my universe. They’ve taught me the importance of being united and taking care of one another—because in the end, all we truly have is each other. My parents have raised me to be a good daughter, sister, and citizen. They’ve shaped me to be respectful, responsible, and virtuous, knowing these values will last a lifetime. But above all, my parents have instilled in me an appreciation and eagerness for education.

To me, being Hispanic is something which I’m immensely proud of. My heritage and the history of great Hispanics before me inspire me to do better and try to make a difference in the world. As a Hispanic, I know that we are some of the hardest working people in the world, we persevere even in the face of situations in which the odds are stacked against us. It’s this knowledge that drives me every day to make not only my parents proud, but to show the world that Hispanic people like me can make a difference for the better.

Being Hispanic, family is very valuable to me. If there's any single thing that I can help my family with, I will gladly do so. I can remember clearly at the age of ten going with my mother to “help” her clean houses which was her job. Since her English wasn't the best, I would serve has her translator. Now I have helped her establish her own small house cleaning business. Due to my parents speaking very little English and having a low education level, they were never able to help me with my homework; Now I have an 11 year old brother who I help with homework because I don't want him to not have the school support he needs to be a an excellent student due to a language barrier. I know my younger brother looks up to me, I have to be the best

Being Hispanic has taught me a whole world of things. It has taught me that the world is not what you expect it to be. Going to a public school and being th minority is completely different than going to a see my cousins where every thing is different. The way we talk, the food we eat. Its all different. To me, being hispanic is probably the biggest blessing I could ever get. I love being hispanic. Being able to know that my culture is completely different than those at school. It has brought so much knowledge that telling other people about makes them want to be hispanic. Although the majority of it is happy experience, I have had my share of negative experiences. From racism or being mistreated for being the minority. Although those things do impact how I feel, I

When I was younger, I never felt out of place. I didn't even know what out of place was, I was always just me. When asked where I was from, I would always say America, obviously. I never regarded my Cuban culture and I resented the fact that I didn't look like the blonde, blue-eyed actresses that dominated the media. As I got older I started appreciating my Hispanic roots more, but I still didn't feel like I truly belonged anywhere.

Such disgrace has allowed for my persona as an intelligent, goal-oriented, and indeed hardworking Mexican-American to evolve. The idea of leaving for college, an idea I was never exposed to and always seemed too far fetched, thankfully has come to light through my dedication to pursue a medical degree. Not only do I want to change the perception of Mexican-Americans’ in this country, I will persevere in assisting those in war-torn countries. Unfortunately, thousands of people have no other option but death due to the lack of medical assistance. Pursuing the ultimate American Dream with the knowledge that many young children are denied the opportunity, for instance, my mother, cia, who due to the lack of resources failed to pursue a nursing degree, has encouraged many Latino-Americans. Many Latino-Americans, including myself, aspire to surpass poverty and discrimination. Through my success, I will undoubtedly change the world, help those in need, and utilize the knowledge I will acquire through my degree to assist those who lack the opportunity to seek a promising

Being the first generation Asian-Hispanic American, I recognize the importance of being the first in my family in gaining an education. Throughout my youth, I seen my parents work in difficult jobs just to keep food on the table. Especially my mother was an immigrant, arriving to this country at age 16 and her highest education is just a middle school diploma. She struggles in finding jobs due to lack of education, thus she works in jobs that nobody wants such as factories, fields and even traveling across the country as a migrant worker. She would accept any job, no matter how hard it is and how low they pay because she only wants the best for me. My father is also an immigrant, arriving all the way from Sri Lanka at age 22 with his best friend. They came here to escape hardship in their country in order to experience the American dream. He worked hard all his life just like my mother, holding a physical demanding job at a shipyard for over 20 years. While they are now divorce but they still both mutually putting me as the first in their priority. They make sure that I have my basic needs met and also keeping me happy and content with life. Seeing them sacrifice everything for me since the day I was born, I want to reassure her that I will not live a difficult life in poverty and the only way to get out of poverty is through a college education.

My parents are both immigrants from Haiti. I was born in America. Growing up, my parents spoke Creole, the national language of Haiti, and English at home. As I got older my resistence to speak their native tongue began to grow. I don’t know why I began to reject the language as my own. Maybe it was because kids with immigrant parents, especially Haitian kids, used to get a lot of flak from the other kids at school. Maybe it was because i couldn’t fully relate to the kids who came from Haiti and spoke to me in the language about things in the country I knew nothing about. Maybe it was because of the inevitable switch, back and forth from Creole to English, due to my lack of the proper vocabulary to speak fluently. Maybe, it was even because

Going into this interview project I was curious to learn more about the experiences that immigrants had to go through. My interviewee, Mario, is an 18 year old immigrant that migrated to America from Bolivia at the age of 10. I have known Mario since middle school and we’ve been friends since then. We have grown up around the same area too and now we both attend the University of Maryland. Being a 1.5 generation immigrant myself, I was interested to see if we shared similar experiences growing up in America especially since we’ve grown up around the same area. My interview with Mario has given me deeper understanding of the difficulties and challenges immigrants have to go through in their first few years in America. Through Mario’s experiences,

In a conversation with Esperanza Miguel talks about life in Mexico. He says “‘my father and I have lost faith in our country. We were born servants here and no matter how hard we work we will always be servants’” (Ryan, 2000, p. 35). He continues to talk about life in the United States saying, “ ‘the work is hard in the United States but at least there we have a chance to be more than servants’” (Ryan, 2000, p.35). There are many reasons migrant families leave their countries. They might be forced out, for political or economic reasons, or because they have family already living in the United States. However, the main goal for many is to become more like Miguel explained. For any migrant child living in the Central Valley they can connect to this American dream because that is what their family is trying to do. When talking to a student at Roosevelt Elementary in Hanford, CA he explained the reason his family moved to California. He said, “My father wanted me and my brother to have a better life than him.” This book can help immigrant children make a connection because they see their families, working hard, trying to achieve this better life for

As an immigrant, relocating to America does not necessarily mean a permanent settlement. More often than not, my family moved in multiple occasions as my family found it challenging to achieve a sustainable way of life. During the span of my childhood, I have moved to seven cities within a span of fourteen years and enrolled at five schools. Being an oriental immigrant proved to be enough of an embarrassment to my moral standards, but being labeled as “the new kid”, activated my deepest insecurities. Forcibly putting myself in an environment where diversity was not apparent, I implicitly harnessed an arrogance and hatred to my own culture. And the lack thereof resulted in disrespecting my parents; I began to question their parenthood and I would frequently engage in verbal disputes between my parents. I remember hating myself and the Korean identity that I yearned to be forgotten.

Previous years in America immigration has been problematic, even now it has become a big issue. Americans are afraid that undocumented workers who come to our nation and work will stay leading to overpopulation and will take jobs from Americans. Before we choose sides let's step back and see the history of immigration, the largest immigration groups and where they live.